


The Things she said

by Matzi



Category: Rookie Blue
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2018-01-13 07:39:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 53,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1217971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Matzi/pseuds/Matzi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New love is always exciting, until all the other uncomfortable feelings come into play. How will Gail and Holly move forward when their fears and insecurities get the best of them? Story follows the show's season 4 finale. This is my first fanfic and I welcome all comments and reviews.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Fanfiction ever, so I´m not shure if its good or bad.
> 
> Reviews are welcome.
> 
> Also I´m not a native speaker, so I´m sorry for the mistakes.

We were sitting in the waiting room, for I don't know how long. Suddenly she got up and turned to me:

"I have to pee".

I watched her walking to the rest rooms. After 10 minutes I decided to look for her.

"Gail?" I said as I walked into the restroom.

"Yeah?"

"You know you've been here for at least 10 minutes"

"So?" she stared at me tired and groggy.

"I just thought..."a heavy sigh interrupted my thoughts.

_Thank you, I guess._

We just stared at each other, she was standing at the sink and I leaned at the door. After a few minutes of standing and staring she turned away to wash her hands.

"I kissed you" she whispered while the water was pouring out of the tap, hardly understandable.

_Ok here it goes, now she starts with the 'I'm not like that, just friends' bullshit_

I should have known. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to reply or not. I decided to continue staring at her.

She started again "then I pushed you away."

_Ok that's new._

 

She looked at me and said nothing.

 "Then I called you" she looked directly in my eyes. I nodded.

"And you came" Gail focused her gaze to the floor again. I assumed she finished her rambling.

So I took a step towards her. I guess she could see my feet appear in her view.

"Gail?" no respond.

_Terrific_

"Gail?" I said a bit more sternly.

She still hadn't moved a muscle. I took another step forward and decided to take her hand. At first I just brushed her hand slightly. She inhaled sharply. I took my hand back.

 She moved hers a bit in my direction. I took her hand in one of mine; with my other I stroked her cheek slightly. She leaned in this touch. "You came" her voice broke a bit.  "Why did you? After I pushed you away?"

I took another step forward and hugged her. She didn't react at first, but after a few seconds she hugged me as if it was all that matters.

"Why should I not come back?" I whispered. 

She shrugged and I heard a snob. I stroked her lower back lightly. She pulled me nearer to herself, if that was possible.

 

"Gail, we tell each other stuff, right? So if you need to talk, I’ll be there.” She looked up, her blue eyes burning. Before I realized it she captured my lips with her own and pushed me against the restroom door.

There was nothing soft in her kiss. Our teeth clashed together. Nobody ever had kissed me as aggressive as she did. I tried to pull away but with my back against the door, it seemed impossible.

So I pushed her away a bit. After I pushed her away to separate our lips she attacked my neck.

"Gail?“ I felt that she found my pulse and soaked at my skin there.

_Great now she leaves a mark, just great_

"Gail?"

_Gosh I guess I never said a name that often, ever._

"I don’t wanna go out there alone. I wanna stay in this room with you." She leaned her head against my chest.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" I nodded.

"Take me out of this horrible place, please."

 

I took her hand once again and led her out of the hospital. On our way out I gave Steve my number and told him to call if anything changes.He told me to take care of his sister. We drove to my apartment and I helped her upstairs. As soon as I closed the door she started kissing me again. Once again I was pushed against the door and once again I pushed her away carefully but vehement. She used this opportunity to turn us around and led us trough my studio to my bed. As my knees reached the edge of my bed she pushed me one more time and I fell on my bed. She climbed up on me and pushed her body against my own. Once again I pushed her away, this time I held her in place. I looked into her eyes; they showed a mixture of lust, desire, hurt and sadness.

"Gail, I..."

"Holly listen to me. I need you right now, ok? Please I need you."

She sneaked her hands under my shirt and stroked against the bottom of my breast at the same time she lifted one of her knees between my legs.

_God, what are you doing Gail?_

I felt my own arousal built up.

 

_Be strong Holly, be strong!_

"Gail no! You are not yourself at the moment and I can't take advantage of your situation. So nothing will happen between the two of us tonight"

She groaned and lay down beside me.

"Gail?" no answer.

_Great Holly, you could have had sex with the most amazing woman you've met in a long time._

"Look Gail, a lot of people use sex for compensation, but I can't let you do than to yourself."

She sighed annoyed.

"You know that I want to do this as well, but right now I can't, for your sake”.

_Shut up Holly just shut up._

“Zip it Holly" she snapped

_Thanks I guess_

 

I lay myself down beside her in bed; she still refused to look at me.

After a few minutes she whispered

"Holly?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you hold me? I still need you. I need to feel you, to remind me that you came. Please I need your touch. Hold me please. "

_WTF? This woman is insane_

I turn myself around a bit and spoon her from behind. She fell asleep pretty fast and I tried to understand what she was mumbling, unsuccessful.

I took in her smell for a last time, kissed the point between her shoulder plates and held her tight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn´t sleep. So I decided to continue with this story.
> 
> Really thought hard about this chapter from Hollys POV but i liked Gails POV more

When I woke up the next morning, I tried to figure out where I was. I tried to recall my memory of last night. I turned myself around and saw Holly lying next to me, seemed like I cuddled myself into her last night. I lay on her arm, our legs were entwined. Her other arm was spread across the bed.

The sheets covered her from the waist down. From my current position I could see her breasts, covered from her shirt. In that moment all my memories flooded back into my mind. Holly, Chloe, Oliver, Sam, Ford, the hospital, the interrogation room, our kiss, my desire, her rejection, everything.

I also remembered her words from last night "lot of people use sex as a compensation"

_Was she right? Would I´ve used her_

I needed to get out of her arms. I needed to clear my head. But I liked to lie in her arms, I liked to lie on her chest, I liked to feel her near me.

I tried to sneak out of her bed. I left a note beside her bed; she shouldn't think that I ran away.

_But I did, didn't I?_

So I wrote down –went for a walk- I jumped back in uniform checked my belt for my batch, my weapon and my mobile.

I ran down the street to the next park and thought about everything and about nothing, and about Holly.

I like her, I really do, but do I like  _like_  her?

Do I want her to be as near as she is?

Can I pound my whole package on her?

I mean, yeah she does sport, but can she handle all the weight?

Would it be fair?

Does it makes me a lesbian or bi or whatever, because I kissed her?

_Labels are for clothes PECK!_

After I was thinking about Holly for an hour or something my mobile rang. The ringtone told me who it was. The Tardis was her ring tone, just hers. A text message from her.

"You don't do sport"

_Shit_

I knew Holly wouldn't believe me, but I didn't know what else to write. I decided not to answer.

"Is this you being a cat?" a second text after another 10 minutes. I still walked through the park and tried to focus on everything except Holly. Another 10 minutes later the Tardis started again.

_Who gave her this ringtone? It´s annoying!_

"You know Gail, if you want to run, or feel the need to run, you should at least take your keys!"

_Dammit!_ I checked for everything except my keys.  _Great Peck!_

I had to head back to hers. I walked very slowly, I guess slower than ever.

I knocked at her door I probably looked like a lost kitten. She opened the door and held my keys in front of her.

"You can grab them if you want or you could come in, I made waffles.

_I love waffles_

"Holly?" I whispered. She just stood there and holds my keys in her hand.

"I like waffles."

"I know Gail. Wanna come in?" She asked while she opened the door a bit wider and put my keys on the shelf beside the door. I shrugged.

"You know what Gail? I´m hungry. I´ll leave the door open, go back to the kitchen and I´ll eat my waffles. As soon as you are ready, or as soon as you allow yourself to be ready, come in. You know the way." She said calm.

_Coming in isn't the problem Holly, it's coming OUT!_

"Holls?" I asked as I entered her apartment about five minutes later. She was sitting in the kitchen, with her back to the door, eating her waffles. I didn't know if she did it on purpose but she looked hot as hell. I walked over and hugged her from behind. She lay her hand down on my own and stroked it softly. I lay my head down between her shoulder plates and placed a small peck there.

"Holls? Thank you" I gulped heavy. She turned herself around in my embrace as she did; I pulled myself away a bit, confused by her movement. "Hi" I whispered after a few moments of staring.

"Hi" she answered softly. We fell back into silence.

"Wanna talk?"

I shrugged while I said "Yes… No… I dunno…"

"Waffles?" I shrugged again.

"I´m sorry" I mumbled while I looked at her handy, lying in her lap "and thank you." I didn't dare to look into her eyes.

"What for?"

"Everything, I kissed you, I pushed you away, then called you, then used you, then pushed you away again, then ran away and you are still willing to let me hold you."

"Gail, you don't have to thank me for that, you know?" She leaned down to kiss me on the cheek, but I turned my head so she kissed me on the lips. It was just a second and I didn't want to end it. So I left my head in the same position and my eyes closed, after she pulled away.

"Gail?" there was a little bit concern in her voice.

"Are you mad?" I asked her while I opened my eyes.

"Why should I be mad?"

I shrugged "Dunno, I ran away"

She got up and pulled me in a tight hug, I pressed my head against her chest

"Can we just stand here like this for a while?" I felt her head against my scalp while she nodded.

I pulled away a bit and kissed her. I pushed my tongue softly against her lip, searching for entrance. Her lips stayed closed. It was our fifth kiss and I still hadn't the chance to touch her tongue.

She ended the kiss and pulled away a bit. "You are insane, you know that right?" she asked smiling, to light up the mood.

"You said that already" I shot back smiling.

"You know, it sounded familiar." She answered while she started laughing. I joined her laughing, while I pulled her body against my own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter aswell :D reviews are welcome again, good and bad :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, thanks for the kudos :D
> 
> I´m not really happy with this chapter, but I thought Holly also need to process this thing so I wrote from her POV.
> 
> The next chapter will be from Gails POV. I just have to type it on my computer
> 
> and I promise, its better and longer :D I hope you guys like this small chapter aswell.

We stood there for a while, before she pulled away and looked into my eyes.

“I have to work in a few hours. Can I have some of the waffles you offered? Please.”

I gave her a plate with waffles and she took them thankfully. She ate the waffles in silence got up kissed me on the cheek and left for work

 

I tried to work out what just happened, or what happened the last 24 hours. I got up to make myself some tea and was on my way back to the couch as my phone rang.

My best friend called.

_Great just what I need right now._

“Hey Jordan, what’s up?” I greeted her annoyed.

“Wow, Holly, nice to hear your amazing voice too. Anyway, you wanted to call yesterday and its not like you to forget me.” She played the hurt one

_Nice trick, Jo_

“Sorry Jo, I dunno have you heard about 15th?”

“15th? Like in hot blondes division 15th?”

_I never ever call her again while I´m drunk_

“Yeah this 15th.” I stated nonchalant. I told her the story but without the parts about Gail and me.

 

“Holly? Is your hot blonde cop chick alright?”

_Damit_

“Yeah she is, well she was shot at, but she is alright, physically”

After a few moments I added “She kissed me, you know?”

“Again? Really Holly? I mean its ok to fall for straight girls, but why do they always play with you? more important, why do you always let them play with you?”

 

I told her the story of the last few hours. I had to reassure her Gail is not like the others.

“Let me guess, you are sitting on your couch right now. In your left hand a cup of tea and in your right hand your glasses. Oh and you probably already jawed on the frame of them.”

_Why does she always know what I do?_

“Yeah, yeah to be honest I do, but I don’t care if I did this a few times before. This time is different, I know it!” I really didn’t want to raise my voice, but it was too late.

“You know, I´m figuring this all out at the moment. My feelings and I dunno everything that includes this, how you called her, hot blonde cop chick. Damn I´m scared. I guess I’m all in but I don’t want to see it. I think she deserves that patience. But I’m not sure how long I can be patient. You know me, probably better than I know myself and you know I can live ages without sex, but I can’t live very love without an emotional connection to someone and especially not with all the ups and downs Gail will probably send me through. “

_That was a hell of a speech_

 

I felt the tears in my eyes but tried to hold them back. My thoughts were on a rollercoaster trip. Jordan talked, but I didn’t listen to her, I was too deep in my thoughts.

“Holly, are you listening?”

“No sorry was thinking”

“Ok, Mrs. Holly Maxine Stewart you´ll listen t me very careful now. I know a few minutes ago I thought this will be the same like the other girls. But you are not the same. Maybe its really different. So this hot blonde cop chick is probably just scared, but I think she´s in this as deep as you. And if she really would want to run away, she´d already have. You suffered a lot and a lot of straight girls laid eyes on you in the past and I´m not sure where this is heading to but you´ve always figured out what´ll be the best for you.” She told me she´ll leave the city for the next two weeks, so if I decide to get myself out of this thing she´ll be not there.

I got the message to give Gail and myself at least these two weeks to figure this all out.

I was really willing to give her as much time as she needs, but I really couldn’t live with emotional ups and downs.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like promised, a better and longer chapter
> 
> Thanks for reading the others and thanks for the reviews.
> 
> I hope you guys like this chapter aswell.
> 
> Please let me know that you think.

The thing between Holly and me was going on for two weeks. After I asked her to give me some time she hadn’t pushed anything. That’s the reason why I called it this thing. I didn’t know if we were dating, or a couple or just friends with benefits.

_Well benefits are not exactly what I get_

Since our kiss in the kitchen we had kissed each other about 10 or 20 times. Mostly just quick pecks on the lips.

_Stop lying to yourself. 14 Pecks and one real kiss without tongue… again.”_

I couldn’t remember when I became so hungry about her tongue but it was killing me that I hadn’t tasted it yet.

 

When I was at another boring shift on booking, Traci asked me to take care of her evidence on its way to the morgue and I did. I dropped of the evidence at the lab and thought about a quick visit at Holly´s office.

I walked down the hallway to her office – empty.

_Probably out with her lunchbox_

I turned around and walked back to the lunchroom. There I headed to the snack machine.

_Come to mommy little cheese puffs_

I opened the bag turned around and froze because of what I saw. There she was in her lab coat and way too tight jeans.

_Damn she´s hot_

She was talking to another woman and in my opinion they stand way too close. The other woman touched Holly subtle on the forearm and Holly started to laugh. It wasn’t a fake laugh. It was her real Holly laugh. She looked at the woman, not in the way she looked at me, but in another way then she looked at strangers.

Who is this woman who is standing this close to MY Holly.

_Bit possessive, isn’t it_

Filled with jealousy I headed back to the squad car. I emptied the bag of cheese puffs in less than two minutes and threw it angrily in the bin on my way out. I drove back to 15th and ran into Chris on my way in.

“God, use your big eyes and look where you walk.” I barked at him.

“Hello to you too.” He offered me a bag “Guess you need it more”

I took the bag out of his hand and looked inside. My favorite donut “Thanks, I owe you.”

I took a big bite from the donut and headed back to my desk. I started to finish my paperwork from the day to leave directly after my shift.

While I finished my reports, I thought about Holly and this woman

 

Who is she?

Why was she standing this close?

What was she doing there?

Am I allowed to be jealous?

Is Holly tired of me?

If yes, why she hadn’t told me?

If no, once again, who is this woman?

 

I could feel the green eyed monster inside of me.

_Jealousy sucks_

I snapped back to reality as Traci winked her hand in front of me.

“Hello, Earth to Gail, are you in there?”

“Yeah, sorry, yes”

“Okaaaaaay…” she said slower as usual “I said we´re heading to Penny´s after shift. You´re in?”

I thought about it for a minute. I wanted to go over to Holly, to find out why this mysterious chick was but I definitely would need a drink to encourage myself. I guess I zoned out for too long, because Traci was doing this ‘wink-thing’ again.

_Any problems with your hand, Nash?_

“Gail, what´s up with you?”

“Nothing, of course I´m in, but just one drink or something.”

 

I finished the reports and went to the locker room. The picture of Holly and Ms. Unknown still in my mind.

I changed and drove with the others to the bar. Traci joined me at the bar and ordered two shots of Tequila. She told me, she heard about a toast called ‘swallow, lick, bite’. I thought about Holly and her skin an about…

_Don’t even go there, Peck!_

So I swallowed, licked the salt from my hand and bit in the lemon. I ordered myself another Jacky, still figuring out what I would tell Holly and to encourage myself that I was about to ask for ‘the Talk’.

_Urgh I hate it._

After I drank my Jacky within two sips I walked over to the others

“I´m heading out, have fun loosers”.

 

I walked over to Holly’s building and as soon as I rounded the corner, Ms. Unknown left the building.

_WTH is she doing here?_

Driven by anger and jealousy I nearly jumped up to Holly’s door. I knocked harder as intended. I felt the green eyed monster grew bigger and bigger. She opened the door and I nearly jumped on her. I swung her around, pushed her against the door and tried to kiss her. She pushed me away.

“You okay?”

I groaned and took a step backwards. I realized that she was just in a short and her old soccer jersey. My mind was racing a mile a minute. Trying to convince myself that nothing had happened between Holly and Ms. Unknown.

_Fuck it_

“Holly, are we, I mean, am I, are you, you know” I stumbled.

“Gail, I have no idea what you´re talking about.”

I groaned again.

 

“Ok, you know ,I know you´re just a human being and you have desires and they need to be stilled. I understand that, completely. I also know that sex is one of these desires”

She raised her eyebrow and waited for me to continue.

“But I thought that this thing, you know, that you, that we…” I silenced for a second and looked to the ground.

_Now or never_

“That we are, or we were a thing. And if you tell me now, you can’t live without sex, I totally understand, and believe me if I were as hot as you I probably couldn’t live without it either, but you could at least have told me or talked to me.”

“Gail what the hell are you talking about?”

Her confusion was written all over her face, it told me I had to explain myself, even if it were crystal clear to me.

“You know, you in shorts and a jersey, then this chick who left your apartment seconds before I entered with an ‘I just got laid’ look on her face”

She burst into laughter.

“Holly, this isn’t funny. I saw her subtle touches at the morgue earlier this day.”

 

She just laughed harder while I tried to hold back my tears. I wasn’t sure if it were anger-tears or sadness-tears.

_Why is she laughing at me?_

She took a step forward and laid her hands down on my waist.

“Gail, I will only tell you once, because I guess you’ll be so embarrassed after that, so you’ll never wanna talk about it again, ok?”

I nodded. My eyes still filled with tears.

“This chick, how you called her, is my best friend since grade one or something. She is also my sister-in-law, married to my annoying brother and super super straight. I never had a thing with her ok? She stopped by on her way home from work. She works in an office near the department as a lawyer. I can promise you, between Jordan and me, never ever would happen something ok?”

 

I felt myself redden immediately.

_Damn alabaster skin_

I made a fool out of myself in front of her.

“So you and this woman hadn’t had, you know”

“Sex? No we hadn’t. Never had and never will have.

She took another step forward and pulled me near. She leaned in and gave me quick peck on the lips. I looked into her eyes.

 

“So you think I´m hot?”

She asked with a smile on her lips. Instead of answering I pulled her head to mine and kissed her. Once again I pushed my tongue against her lips and this time she deepened the kiss by opening her lips.

_STRIKE_

I slipped my tongue in and tasted hers. She moaned into my mouth. She let her hands slide down to my bum and grabbed my cheeks lifted me a bit higher and nearer to herself.

A few moments later she pulled back.

 

“Thank you Gail”

“What for?”

“I dunno, for showing me you don’t want me to be with somebody, anybody else. For showing me that this thing isn’t one-sided.”

“Did you just say thank you for being jealous?”

We both started laughing.

 

I took her hand led her to her bed, sat down and padded the place beside me. She sat down beside me, my hand still in hers.

“I guess we have to talk about a lot.”

“Yeah, we probably do.”

We sat there in comfortable silence for a few moments. Suddenly I blubbered out

“Am I your girlfriend?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The toast I used is common here where I come from.
> 
> I´m not sure if its known in Canda or wherever you come from :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I´m so so sorry for the delay, but had a lot work to do.
> 
> I hope you like this chapter. Next one will be published sooner (hopefully)
> 
> enjoy this chapter
> 
> like always thoughts are written in italic :D
> 
> ones again Hollys POV

_Wow where did that come from?_

She looked so vulnerable in this moment and so insecure.

"If I say yes, will you run away?"

"Just say what you think, Holly!" She nearly pleaded.

"Yes Gail you are. You are longer than you probably think. I felt taken since the marriage or the day you were high on oxy. But since the interrogation room I kinda felt like in a relationship, you know."

She reached forward and pushed me gently down on the mattress. I crawled back to reach a little bit of distance, but she just crawled up on me. She kissed me one again, deepened the kiss immediately and lowered herself on me. Her left hand sneaked under my shirt, while her right hand lifted my leg up around her waist.

"Gail, wait a sec" I said while I pulled away a bit. She looked into my eyes with her crystal blue eyes and for a moment I forgot what I wanted to say. "Gail, if we go further, I´m not sure I´m able to stop."

She smirked, leaned her had near my ear and whispered "I´m counting on that" before she kissed my neck and bit the juncture of my collarbone.

_You said so_

In a fast movement I turned us around so that I was towering her. I lifted her shirt a bit, lowered my head to her belly and started to kiss upwards while I slid her shirt upwards with my fingers. As my fingers reached her breasts I slowed down my movements. Her back arched up and she inhaled sharply. I lifted her shirt over her head and kissed her again. Before I realized it, she lifted my shirt over my head. I lifted her torso and she pushed her torso flat against mine. She pulled the shoulder strips of my bra down and began kissing down my shoulder until she reached my breasts. She unclipped my bra before nipping at my nipples. She sucked on one of my nipples until my head arched back in enjoyment. I pushed her down on the mattress again

_It is my game after all!_

I quickly undid her pants and dragged them down her feet. I traced both hands up on both of her thighs. I leaned down to kiss her bare thighs, sneaking my tongue out every now and then until I reached her underwear. I gripped it between my teeth. "Fuck, Holly" she lost control of her breathing while she was watching me.

_That's my intention_

After that I brought my face back to hers and kissed her passionately. I let my hands slide down her body. They came to a rest on her waist. She took this opportunity to tuck on my waistband and slid my short and pants down my feet. Without breaking the kiss I lowered myself down on her.

When I woke up the next morning my body was exhausted but at the same time I felt extremely rested. I pushed myself up on one elbow and watched Gail sleeping.

_God you are so damn beautiful_

The sheets covered her lower half and I slowly let my hands slide up and down her spine, barely touching. I followed the lines around her shoulder blades and stroked her neck slightly. I let my hands slide down her spine again, until I reached her butt. Fighting against the urge to kiss her, I took my hands back and continued watching her sleep. She opened her eyes a bit.

"Hey" she mumbled.

"Hi" I answered.

"It's kinda creepy to watch others sleep, you know."

"Mhm" I mumbled.

"How long have you been awake?"

"A little while"

"Nothing nerdy on the telly?"

"Dunno"

"Everything ok? You´re awfully quite this morning"

I sighed and lay down on my back again. She shifted herself on her elbow to face me.

"Hey Holls, what is it?"

"I dunno, it's just… I... you know…" I sighed again and she looked at me confused.

"I´m waiting, waiting for you to realize we just spend the night together and you know, to get away from here, from me, as soon as you can.

My insecurities were probably written all over my face.

"And why would I do that?" I couldn't read her expression, probably a mixture from anger, hurt sadness and a huge amount of shock.

"You are not into woman"

She leaned down to kiss me, at the same time her hands came up from her stomach to cup my face.

"Holly, I don't know your second name yet, Stewart you are right, I´m not into woman, but I´m into you it's as simple as that, ok?"

She leaned down to kiss me again, and deepened the kiss to reassure me. She pulled away again.

"I´m leaving your bed now, to make coffee and don't you dare to be this, well this…" She waved her hand disgusted "insecure and vulnerable when I come back ok?!"

She got up, grabbed one of my old soccer jerseys and pulled it over her head. Her butt barely covered from it, she walked to the kitchen corner and moved the curtains to my bedroom aside. I wasn't sure if she did it to watch me, or for me to watch her.

_It's good to read my name on her_

She moved to the fridge and mumbled something about healthy food and cheese puffs. I watched her carefully, took in every movement before I lowered my head back on the pillow. I just spent a whole night having sex with Gail.

_OMG it was amazing_

The best part of it was I woke up next to her. This time wasn't a dream, this time she slept beside me we really had sex and she wasn't running away or threw me out. She stayed and was now in my kitchen making coffee for the two of us. She came back, put the cups on my nightstand, walked to the end of my bed and crawled up on me. Kissing my belly upwards on her way to my face. I started smiling and my body responded immediately by arching my back up. She kissed me on the lips, looked in my eyes and said "I made coffee"

"I can smell it" She chuckled, lowered herself on me and laid her head down on my chest. She stroked my stomach with her hand slightly.

"Hollykins?"

"Mhm?" I mumbled while I kissed her hair.

"May I ask you something?"

"Everything"  _but please nothing about last night._

"What you said before, you know, how many chicks did that to you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like alwasy reviews pm and so on are welcome.
> 
> I have an ides for the next chapter, but ideas are also very welcome.
> 
> tbh it wrote this chapter at work, and can you imagine how weird it is to write, or try to write, an lesbian sex scene on english while you are sitting between 10 men who are talking german or turkish? Really weird :D
> 
> thanks for reading


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like promised, a faster update.
> 
> This is the first chapter I worked with a beta, thank you so much for helping me and for improving this story.
> 
> Thoughts like always in italic
> 
> and we are back in Gail´s head

I wasn't sure if I was ready to hear Holly's answer to my question, but I wanted to know. I wanted to know how many women broke her heart. How could anyone do something like that to this amazing, funny and smart woman lying under me? I had more questions, well, maybe more for myself than for Holly. I knew if I asked her anything she probably would tell me all the answers. But now was not the time. I couldn't ask her those questions without first answering them myself.

As I waited for her answer, the chatter in my mind began to fill the quietness that settled in the room.  
Did I have the right to ask her that?  _She said I could ask her everything.  
_ Maybe she thinks I'm one of those "chicks"?  _No! No, I'm not…_  
Why would she think that?  
If it's about that time slipped out of her place and left her in bed…?  _But I came back…  
_ Does she think I would hurt her?  _I can't hurt her  
_ How could I?  _After all that she had done for me…_

I felt Holly shift slightly, and my head chatter stopped.  
"Why do you ask?" she asked cautiously.  
I felt a wave of guilt wash over me.

Honestly, it wasn't really about the amount of women she had slept with. _Not now at least._  We're adults, and we both had a past which we were dealing with. It was more about the women she had slept with, who´d be gone in the morning.

I shrugged, and lifted my head to look up at her. "Honestly, I'm not sure, but I guess a part of me wants to know."  
She nodded.  
"Wait," I quickly added, "can I count them on one hand?" I asked and try to laugh to lighten up the mood.

She smiled, and then reached for my neck to pull me closer. Following her lead, I moved up her body to allow her lips to meet mine. She kissed me softly at first, but I deepened the kiss and she moaned into my mouth. I felt a single tear run down her cheek. Without thinking, my arms wrapped around her and held her tight. I just needed her to know that I was still here, in her arms, by her side, and I wasn't going anywhere.

She pulled away slowly, "Thank you Gail, I needed that."  
I looked into her eyes and smiled. "You're welcome." She smiled back.  
Then the smile faded and she slowly looked away from me. "There were a few, maybe one or two who really matters" she said.  
"one or two women who I really fell in love with, but it never worked out." Her face became somber, and her eyes looked distant.

My eyes softened, and my heart ached.  
"Hey, that was the past," she said trying to lighten up the mood. "And besides, our coffee is getting cold."  
Our eyes connected again and I smiled at her. We drank our coffee in bed,  
and enjoyed what was left of our quiet morning together before I got up to go to work.

As I entered the locker room, Holly was still on my mind.  
"Hmmm…" a familiar voice quickly got my attention. I turned and found Traci leaning against the lockers, arms crossed against her chest, with that mischievous smile planted on her face.  
 _Great._

"Someone got laid last night," she added playfully.  
 _Huh?_  
Before I realized, my face immediately reddened. I looked around in the locker room and was relieved that we were alone. It's not that I'm ashamed of Holly. I just needed time to process our relationship.  
"Urgh, I really don't wanna know what you and my brother did Traci," was my, hopefully sarcastic, response.  
She pushed herself away from the lockers, laughed, and walked directly towards me. "I'm not talking about me Gail, you know that," she whispered in my ear.  
 _Of course I know..._

_Wait!_  
My eyes grew wide.  
"So, who's the lucky one?" she continued to tease me.  
 _One? She said 'one' not 'guy.'  
_ Panic filled me, my face became redder and redder, and my mind started to race.  
 _She knows?  
_ _How?  
_ _Does she know about Holly and me?_

I shook my head. I couldn't think about that right know.  
 _Serve and protect_. I repeated to myself, over and over again to focus on something else.  
"You know Traci, a lady never tells," I said as I winked.

I walked to my locker, and started to change into my uniform.  
I heard the Tardis again and my mobile vibrated in my bag. I knew it was a text from Holly.

**H: Have a great day. Thanks for earlier XX  
** I giggled like a little girl, and texted her back.  
 **G: For coffee or orgasms?  
** **H: Both, but not in that order.  
** **G: Ah, you're welcome! Glad we think alike.  
** **H: Me too. Maybe tonight, you'll be thanking me…  
** **G: Someone wants to get lucky tonight?**

"C'mon, Gail! Let's go!" Traci shouted.  
"Okay," I absently responded. I smiled, placed my phone in my pocket, and closed my locker.  
"NOW!"  
"I´m comin, I´m comin, I´m comin."  
 _Serve and protect. Serve and protect. Stewart and protect.  
_ _Dammit!_

I was partnered with Chris today, my second favorite person after Oliver.  
"Gail, wanna drive?" he asked.  
"Nope," I quickly answered.  
We were patrolling when Traci called over the radio "15-08 could you stop by the morgue? Pick up a report from Dr. Stewart? I'll pay for lunch."  
"15-08 responding, on our way," Chris responded.

My brain stopped after I heard Holly's name. Dr. Stewart. I had sex with thatDr. Stewart. I started smiling and remembered what had happened last night.

_She lowered herself on me and pressed her thigh against my center. Her breast pressed against mine with her center on my thigh. It felt so good, so right, so amazing. Her hands slowly traveled up my torso and moved to my chest. She pressed her palm_ _s_ _against my breasts and caressed my nipples between her forefinger and her thumb. Her hands traveled south while she searched my eyes, wanting permission to go deeper. I nodded and kissed her while I let my hand slid down to grab her ass. I pulled her hard against me and pulled my thigh against her wet center. We moved against each other slowly. She stroked the sides of my thigh and the skin right above my center, but it was not enough. She was way too far away from where I needed her._

" _Holly, please" I pleaded. Immediately, she moved down and inserted two fingers inside of me while her thumb gently rubbed my clit. My back arched up in enjoyment._

" _Oh God, Gail you feel so good." She mumbled while she kissed and nipped at my throat. I tilted my head to give her better access. As we grinded against each other in rhythm, Holly increased the pace and I felt my orgasm rise up inside of me. With every thrust I grabbed her ass harder and my breath became more unsteady. Unable to hold back any longer, I held on to her tight and bit her shoulder. I screamed her name as I climaxed and she let me ride it out on her fingers slowly._

"Alright Gail, we're here. The lab," I heard, still thinking about last night.  
"Hey, Gail?" Chris' voice registered.  
"Oh, sorry Chris," I answered quickly.  
"Right. I'll go and get that report from Holly." I added  
"Ok, I'll grab lunch. Say 'Hi' to Holly for me"  
 _Ha! You wish._

I went up to her office. Ok, I nearly ran up the stairs.  
"Holls?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Hey, beautiful lady." I gave her a quick peck. "Traci asked me to grab a report from you."  
"I have them right here, wait a sec." She reached for a file on her desk and handed it to me. "Tell her everything she needs is in there," she instructed me as she pointed to the file in my hand. My eyes went directly to her long finger. Just the thought of that finger and what it did to me last night.  
 _I'm in trouble. Big, BIG trouble._

"See you tonight?" she asked.  
"Sure, maybe a replay?" I winked at her.  
"Go Peck! Now! I´ll call you later."

Back at the station, Chris and I headed straight to Traci's desk to deliver her report.  
"You guys are awesome!" she sang out as we approach her. "Hey Chris," she turned to him, "so, how often does this one zone out?" she nudged her head in my direction.  
I shot her a death glare. _Shut up Nash!  
_ They laughed. I shot both of them a death glares.  
 _Not funny!_

"Hey, we wanted to celebrate Oliver's return at the Penny tonight . You guys in?" Traci asked.  
"Yeah, sure. I'm in." Chris nodded. "Hey Gail, you could ask Holly to join us. She's pretty hot"  
 _Oh yeah, I know…_  
"Yeah, but she's a nerd," I said, trying to change the subject. "She probably watches oh I dunno, Dr. Who or some nerdy tv show."  
"You know, you should be nice." he reminded me. "Besides, you're the one with the Tardis ringtone, am I right?"  
 _Damit!_

Chris was right. It was unfair to talk about a  _friend_  like that. Well a friend who is simply amazing, adorable in every way, and just perfect. Not to mention, the friend who pleased me last night, and is the reason I've been happy the last few months.

I needed to text her.  
 **G: We're going to celebrate Oliver's return at The Penny. They asked me to invite you. You in?  
** **H: With you Gail, just say the word and I'm 'in'  
** **G: Thanks, how am I supposed to concentrate now?** **You** **should know, they don't know about us.  
** **H: I´m cool with that, as long as you come home with me.  
** **G: Promise?  
** **H: Promise.  
** **G: Can't wait until I see your incredibly hot body again.  
** **H: Gail, concentrate on your job.** _ **  
**_Man, I love this game with her! Before I can even finish my next text, my phone dings.  
 **H: Oh Gail, you'll see what you want. But touch, that's another story. See you tonight.** _ ****  
_ _Damn, she's quick!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a week off, so I could write this scene without my colleagues beside me.
> 
> I hope you guys like this chapter.
> 
> Reviews, PM and everything else are very welcome, I appreciate them very much.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I´m sorry for the delay, but work and school you know.
> 
> I hope you like this chapter. 
> 
> enjoy this chapter
> 
> like always thoughts are written in italic
> 
> Back in Holly´s head

It was a hard day at work _,_  but all the while I thought about Gail, and was really looking forward to seeing her later in the evening. I spent most of the day performing an autopsy on a teenage boy. He was part of a street gang, and was shot to death by another member of his own gang.

My former professor once told me that autopsies are always hard, but over time it gets easier. He was right it gets easier, but I was always exhausted after one of these autopsies. He was right, I got used to them without being affected by it, but sometimes it was difficult, especially when it involved young people. Truthfully, it sucked. After graduating from medical school, the first autopsy I performed was on a seven years ago child, who kidnapped, raped and strangled to death. The girl, with golden blonde curls, looked small and fragile on the metal table. That image is forever branded in my mind. Sometimes I see her in my nightmares. I will never forget the sadness on her mother's face when she saw the little girl lying on the table. It broke my heart.

By the time I left the morgue, I was completely exhausted. Thankfully, I had two hours before I planned to meet Gail and her friends at The Penny to celebrate Oliver's recovery. It was more than enough time for me to go home, wash away the smell of formaldehyde, and change into clean clothes.

I dragged myself up the stairs to the second floor of my apartment building. As soon as I entered my studio, I headed straight to my living room, threw my mail on the coffee table, and sat tiredly on my leather couch. It took all my willpower not to lie down, knowing I would fall asleep until the next morning. Absently staring at the pile of mail in front of me, a picture of a sunset caught my attention. I picked it up and saw a handwritten message on the other side. "Not to make you jealous, but you know when they say it's nice and sunny in California? Well, it's true! Wish you were here! XX Jordan. P.S. Hope you're having lots of fun with your lady friend!" At the end of the message was that silly happy face Jordan always draws on her notes. I imagined her with a smirk on her face as she wrote the postcard to me.

_Jordan, if you only knew…_

Before I got too comfortable on my couch, IT WAS TIME TO GET READY….

On my way to the bathroom, I saw Gail's socks lying on my bedroom floor. She helped herself to a pair of mine while getting dressed for work. I was reminded how comfortable she felt in my apartment. My mind wandered to Gail again, well honestly it was there all the time.

My mind drifted to Lala-land so I tried to heave up myself to make myself a cup of tea.  
Happy about the fact there's no need to open doors on my way to the kitchen. I could use the remaining energy to put on the kettle.  
I turned and leaned against the cupboard. An apple on my kitchen island caught my attention so I took it. Instead of biting in it I saved my energy and took a knife to cut it into pieces.

I was distracted all day, ever since she left my bed. On my way to work I thought about my night with Gail and was surprised how easily I became aroused. I didn't know what Gail was doing with me. Even before we were an item I was happy just being with her. The way she spoke, her loyalty to the job, her smile, her witty comments, her hair, her voice, her whole being distracted me from day one. Even at work, where I never had problems to concentrate.

_Back to distraction._

I read through Traci's report I felt embarrassed. I wrote all thoughts about last night down in the report. So I had to rewrite it over again because she wouldn't be interested in Gail's and mine sex life. Luckily I also realised I wrote down "no drugs found in her orgasm" instead of organism.

_Holly Maxine Stewart, focus!_

After I called Traci telling her I finished her report she said she'll sent two officers over to pick it up. A part of me hoped it would be Gail, while the other part hoped it would be someone else. I wasn't sure if I would be more distracted if she would appear in the lab or if it would be a release. Honestly I wasn't interested in finding out. In fear I could not concentrate for the rest of my work day. I felt like a teenager, unable to control myself. My desire on it's highest point as she entered the morgue. Unsure how to react I just stood there and took in her beauty. She walked over to me and gave me a quick peck on the lips, it felt like a explosion inside of me. Trying to control my desire I handed her the report to distract myself. Before she left again I gave her a quick kiss back, this time it was more of a release which I was thankful for. The kiss was a promise for more. She lingered s bit longer and the kiss conveyed our desire for each other.

The desire flooded back as she asked me to join her at the Penny tonight. I couldn't help myself I just needed to tease her a bit during our text message exchange earlier.

_Payback is a bitch_

I shifted uncomfortable as I felt the damp between my legs. My heart rate increased. My skin felt hot. This woman was driving me insane. I jumped into the shower to calm down a little. After a quick cold shower I turned the heat up to wash away the exhausted feeling I had. I leaned my head against the tiles and let the hot water pour down on my body. My muscles relaxed and tightened at the same time. After quite a long time under the hot water I jumped out completely naked and wrapped a towel around me and laid in my bed.

The side where Gail slept still smelled like her. Like the first snow in the winter mixed with honey.

_Stop thinking, stop thinking._

I tried to focus on something else and decided to go through my closet to find something to wear for tonight. Standing in front of my wardrobe I had the same problem like every other girl.

_I have nothing to wear._

Easiest part, socks! I grabbed black socks and put them on. I decided to go through my wardrobe to find something to wear. I thought about what I wanted to convey through my outfit and decided for sexy, confidence and it should definitely be a turn on for Gail, but not to much for her friends to get the wrong impression. Still wrapped in my towel I threw the hottest shirts I've got on the bed. Black, red, blue or maybe white?

_Remember your bruised shoulder._

Ok no white, I wouldn't want her friends to see the mark Gail left on my shoulder. I picked out three of my best shirts and put the rest back in my wardrobe.

Back to the lingerie. I went through the drawer once again and remembered the hottest bra I've ever had. Deep down in the drawer I found it. On my last trip to New York I bought this super hot Victorias Secret bra, it was a mix between pink and red with rhinestones. I went through the drawer with my panties and found the fitting panties. If Gail was aroused as I was she wouldn't stand a chance.

The red blouse and the leather jeans would do it.  
I let two buttons open, just enough to make Gail hungry, but not enough to much.

Before I called for a cab I went through my shoe locker and selected a pair of black high heels. I headed back to the mirror and called for a cab. The cab driver told me he would arrive within half an hour. I started to put on a decent amount of make up. As I headed out of my apartment I took one last look on the clock, plenty of time left to calm down a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to confess. The next chapters will take quite some time. 
> 
> They are already written, but my beta and I have a lot to do at work.
> 
> And there´s also school, it sucks! 
> 
> I hope I can upload a new chapter very soon, but I cant promise something. 
> 
> Like always reviews/PMs are welcome
> 
> Stay tuned


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys, 
> 
> vacation is over :( 
> 
> but I had time to write a bit. 
> 
> Chapter 8 is finally finished and I thought I upload it as soon as possible.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter :)
> 
> I would like to thank all my followers for your patience. And of course my beta, for being amazing and for being part of this story.
> 
> Written in Gail´s POV, her thoughts are in italic.

I joined Chris, Traci, Steve and the others at The Penny and ordered myself a Jack Daniels. I felt nervous about the night and needed something to calm me down. I didn’t want anyone to see that I was nervous, most especially Holly. It was very important to me that she knew I was okay with her meeting my friends. I wanted her to know that I was in this with my whole being. I really looked forward to seeing her again – to hear her voice and feel her presence. She made me feel things I never thought I could ever feel with a woman.

 

"So, where's Holly?" Chris asked smiling.

 

_Don't you dare to think about my girlfriend, Diaz._

 

"I don’t know. She should be here soon. She's never late," I shrugged my shoulders and emptied my glass. We kept to small talk about work, cases, and our days. Traci told me about a case another detective had to deal with. It involved a young boy who was killed in a gang-related incident.

 

The door to The Penny opened, and Holly entered the bar. My eyes lit up when I saw her and my body filled with warmth. My palms became sweaty. She wore this amazing red blouse, which hugged her in all the right places and tight leather jeans. It reminded me of her outfit at the wedding. They were similar, but this one made her look even more attractive

 

_Wow, why do you have to be so hot, Babe?_

 

Maybe it was her confidence, or her smile, or the way her eyes lit up when they met mine.

I watched her as she walked toward us and my mouth fell slightly open. I had never seen anyone so gorgeous before. Her blouse was opened, enough to show just the right amount of cleavage. She looked stunning. I felt the urge to walk right up to her and kiss her possessively on the lips. Everyone should know that amazing woman was with me. My eyes moved up and down her body enjoying the sight before me. Then I realized she was looking directly at me. I looked into her eyes and she smirked. She caught me checking her out. I blushed a bit but I also felt flattered to call her my girlfriend. She walked over and placed her hand on my shoulder for just a second and sat down beside me. My shoulder burnt from her touch. She smiled at me, still unable to form a coherent thought. I just looked to her and smiled. I moved my mouth to say something, but no words came out. I’m sure she sensed my current state. I introduced her to the others, and they introduced themselves as well. A part of me wanted to show everyone she was marked. But my rational mind stopped me from doing it. It was enough for me to know that she spent last night with me.

 

She leaned against my ear, "Are you alright?" she whispered while her lips brushed slightly, barely noticeable, against my ear. I inhaled sharply but tried to stay as calm as possible. She leaned back in her seat and looked at me, still waiting for an answer. I smiled to reassure her everything is fine.

 

"So Holly, Dov and I were discussing how much of the CSI stuff is real. Since you work at the lab you probably can give us some answers," Chris asked widely smiling.

 

_She's mine Chris!_

 

Holly answered firmly with her lopsided smile, but I could sense something was bugging her because her smile didn’t reach her eyes. I leaned close to her, "Are you really alright with all this?" I asked feeling guilty for not being open about our relationship.

"Yeah, I am. Let's talk about it later, okay?"

I leaned back in my chair, a bit worried about what might be up. Maybe she wasn't cool with this but wouldn't say it to me. She laid her hand down on my thigh and squeezed it before pulling her hand away.

 

We fell back in small talk and chatted. I was amazed how comfortable she was with the group. It seemed my friends liked her, but more importantly for me was that she liked them, too. It made me feel proud to have this woman sitting by my side; someone who fits in easily, unlike me. I wished I could be as open as she was.

 

Steve and Holly talked about sports, and she told him she used to play soccer. "Have you ever heard about Gail's first experience with soccer?" Steve asked. I immediately looked at him and glared.

 

"Don't you dare, Steve!"

 

Holly and Steve started to laugh. "Have you ever heard about her experience at the batching cage?" Holly shot back. "Anyway, I took her there one day and tried to talk her into it...," she continued, ignoring my stare.

 

"Hold on,” Traci interjected, suddenly very interested in their conversation. “Gail? _This Gail?_ The one over here, was at the batching cages?"

 

"Yeah, and instead of hitting the ball she threw away the bat." Holly answered while she stroked my back and dug her nails slightly into the scratches she made last night. I shivered and winced at the sudden touch and light pain. "Steve, tell me about her experience at the soccer field."

 

Without hesitation, Steve began to tell the story. "Well, she was about 5 years old,” he started then looked at me curiously, “were you 5 or 6 at the time?”

 

I shot him a look that I hoped communicated the thoughts going through my head.

 

_Just shut up, you jerk!_

 

“Yeah, well you know she played with a few other girls and suddenly a cat ran on the field. Gail had the ball in front of her. Then the cat walked over to her sat down in front of her and meowed. Gail was so shocked, she kicked the ball and ran away screaming. It was hilarious."

 

Holly laughed out loud, which made me blush even more. I looked down on my hands and hoped the earth would open itself and swallow me. I felt embarrassed. She played soccer for many years, even had her own jersey and I just played it once. I knew she would never laugh at me because of my inability and unwillingness play sports.

 

She leaned in towards me, "What is it with you and cats?" she asked, then leaned back and taking a sip of her beer. I leaned in dug my fingers on the mark I left last night and whispered, "Judging by my back, you are more of a cat than I am". I leaned back and smirked as she choked.

 

_Something wrong, Doc?_

 

We teased each other the whole evening, but this was the first comment about last night. She swallowed her beer, and excused herself to go to the ladies room.

 

"Wow Gail, she’s amazing. How can someone as nice as her be your friend?" Steve asked.

"Nice one brother, nice one."

 

Dov turned in his chair quickly,causingmy beer to spill over the table  and on my jeans.

“DOV!” I exclaimed.

 

I got up from the table and started to head in the direction of the ladies room. I turned around and looked at the group again. "I hope there will be another beer for both of us when we come back!"

 

I entered the ladies room and checked to see if we were alone. Washing her hands, her back was turned to me. I took advantage of this situation and pressed myself against her, letting my hands slide up along her ribcage to her breasts. I grabbed them and immediately let them go again. I let my hands ghost up her front, barely touching. She leaned her head slightly to the side, away from the hot breath I blew on her neck. I leaned into her ear and whispered, "God Holly, you are amazing.” My hand found the hem of her blouse and pulled it away to reveal the mark. We looked in the mirror and I took in the image in front of me. I kissed her skin, just above the mark and said to her with a husky voice, “Mine.” She moaned and shivered. I turned my head towards her neck and looked into the mirror again. Her eyes were closed and she rested her hands against the sink for support. I couldn’t help myself but smile. Another moan escaped her throat as I nipped at her neck. My hands traveled south again, and I cupped her through her jeans. She pressed herself further into me. My other hand traveled towards her waistband and I let my thumb slide under it.

 

"Gail,” I heard her say. “Stop please. We can't... Not now... Not here."

 

I leaned my forehead between her shoulder blades, "I know, but you look so beautiful.” She turned around in my embrace and kissed me slowly. After she pulled away, I watched her eyes move down my body.

 

“Wet already?” She asked smiling as she looked at my beer soaked jeans.

“You wish.” !” I answered as I pulled back. Effectively I slid my hands over her breasts again.

"Let's go back to the bar. I want one more shot. You want one?" she asked. “I definitely need one!”

I shook my head.

 

As we walked back to the table, she greeted Traci at the bar and ordered her shot. I watched as they talked, unable to figure out what their conversation was about. She blushed while Traci whispered something to her. Holly downed her shot and Traci smiled knowingly that something must be going on.

 

"She is amazing, Gail. I have to agree with Steve, how can she be your friend?” Chris said as he chuckled. “Is she single?” He asked quietly as he leaned into my side.

 

_NO! She's NOT!_

 

“Chris, close your mouth you’re drooling.”

 

Chris pouted a bit but Dov quickly grabbed his attention with another trivia question. I purposely didn’t listen to them. “William Hartnell,” Holly answered for Chris. We looked at her with shock as she continues, “He was the first doctor from 1963-1966, may he rest in peace. He was amazing. But my favorite is David Tennant.”

 

"Wow, Holly that's right," Dov said and she chuckled.

Holly was having too much fun with the stupid trivia game.

 

_Nerd!_

 

She knew the answer to every question making it a playful but intense match between ‘King of the Dorks’ and ‘Ms. Wonderful.’

 

At the same time she continued her conversation with Steve and Oliver about all kinds of topics. Steve told her a few things about our childhood, trying to embarrass me every now and then, but my mind was too occupied with Holly to get upset.

 

"Gail?" Traci asked, doing her wave thing again.

 

_Go to a doctor, Nash._

 

I chuckled slightly.

"Traci?" I said annoyed.

"I asked you four times if you would like to take a few shots at the bar?"

"Sorry, yeah of course, only if you pay!" I answered while I got up and headed to the bar.

 

We stood there and downed our shots. I turned around to look at the group and glared at Chris who was trying to flirt with Holly. Maybe it was just in my imagination and Holly was just Holly. It’s who she is. She is friendly to everyone. Probably I should be proud of the reaction she receives from the guys. In the restroom she made it pretty obvious she wasn’t interested in anybody else.

 

I didn’t want anyone getting the wrong impression. They shouldn’t think she was interested in Chris. They probably would have tortured me if they thought they could set them up. That was what annoyed me about their interaction together

 

Traci looked at me and I could feel she wanted to ask something.

“Spit it out!” I demanded

“It’s nice” Traci answered. I gave her a questioning look.

“It’s nice to see you happy, Gail.” she clarified.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

"Come on Gail, let's go back." Traci said as she paid for our drinks.

We joined the others at the table and continued with the small talk.

 

We left the Penny with Traci and Steve. I ordered a cab for both of us. The cab driver told us he'll be there within five minutes so we said our goodbyes to Traci and Steve.

 

The door to the cab was not even closed before I attacked her lips moaning in her mouth as I felt a relief for the first time that day.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 09
> 
> It´s all about sex in this chapter.
> 
> Well not all, but most of it.
> 
> It´s also the longest chapter up to now :)
> 
> Thank you for all your follows and reviews and favorites and so on. They are still appreciated.
> 
> My beta and I are already working on the next chapter, so hopefully it´ll be ready soon.
> 
> Have fun with this chapter.

It surprised me how easily Gail and I slipped into our own little bubble at The Penny, even with the audience of her friends. I expected her to be more reserved with me around, and not allow any hint of our relationship to be known. But she even let me tease her. Her friends were very friendly. I finally understood why she called Dov the ‘King of the Dorks.’ He really was kind of a dork. We were fairly equal at the trivia game, but I knew I had an edge over him, and won. Steve and Oliver tried to tease and embarrass her, but in a brotherly way. I knew I would have my chance to tease her later with Steve’s stories about young Gail. My brother and I never teased each other like that, but I liked their interaction and I realized how close they were. Since our trip to the ladies room, I could barely control my desire to have my way with Gail. I wanted her and she knew it.

 

Her physical aggressiveness in the cab caught me off guard, but I welcomed it. The 10-minute ride to my place was way too long. We kissed and moaned. We both had to control ourselves from not ripping off our clothes in the back seat of the cab. Suddenly she didn’t care who was watching us. She pulled me towards her so her face was hidden by mine and we kissed passionately. The cab driver had no chance to recognize her. He cleared his throat once but she just looked up to me and I knew she would kill him in an instant if he wouldn’t shut up and ignore what was going on in his backseat. I reached for my purse and gave him 50 bucks without looking at him. He took the money and remained silent for the rest of the trip.

 

Finally at the building, we stumbled up the stairs to my apartment. This time it was me who pushed her against the wall. I needed her right there and then. I pressed my thigh between her legs, reached for her waist, and pulled her further to me. She started to ride my thigh _._ I knew she was near so I increased the pressure from my leg and she gasped.

 

"God Gail, I want you so badly. Don’t ever torture me like that again." I pleaded as she bit at my collar bone. I reached between our bodies and slipped my hand into her pants. I teased her clit and she grabbed my shoulders hard. With a final moan I knew she climaxed. She cooled down a bit and caught her breath. I pulled away slightly and she looked into my eyes.

 

“You know, no one has ever made me come with all my clothes on.” She chuckled.

 

_Oh, I can definitely take care of that._

 

I pushed her against the locker beside my door, quickly lifted her on it, and stood between her legs. She wrapped her legs tightly around my waist and pulled me up against her. She moaned as her pants pressed against the still very sensitive spot between her legs. My hands ran up her body as she tugged at my blouse and pulled at the buttons. I pushed my hips hard between her legs earning a moan as I felt her shiver against me. I lifted her shirt above her head and she unbuttoned my blouse. She shoved it down my shoulder and kissed my neck. My head arched back with enjoyment, and my midsection rubbed into her center. She moaned again, and her breath became unsteady again.

 

"I wanted you,” she murmured, trying to catch her breath. “Ever since you walked into The Penny.” Satisfied to hear her confession, I playfully bit her neck. Unable to hold back any longer, I sucked her neck. She pulled away and our eyes met. I saw pure desire in her deep blue eyes. Her hand slid down my chest over my bra, and her eyes followed. I watched patiently as she took her time to explore me. My skin burned where it met her hands. “This is beautiful,” she whispered with admiration. “I want to taste you, Holly.” Her hands began to knead my breasts and her mouth nipped at me earlobe.

 

_Oh my God, you are killing me…_

She moved her lips down my neck, up my throat and over my jaw until they finally found mine again. We kissed wildly. Before I knew it, my bra was on the floor and I felt the tip of her tongue move down my throat again.

 

She moved her way down to my breasts. At the same time I reached around her body to undo her bra as well. She sucked my nipple this time I moaned loudly.

 

I let my hands slide over her breasts, and down to unbutton her pants. She lifted slightly and I pulled down her jeans and her panties. She lifted her head to kiss me again. Immediately she deepened our kiss and sucked at my tongue. As soon as she was naked on my locker I looked down her body. I felt my own arousal build as I felt her wetness against my stomach while she pulled me into her body with her legs. Our hands explored the other’s body. I slid my hands between us and pressed it against her center. She arched her back and, sucked my neck eagerly as I slipped two fingers into her.

 

_So wet...for me._

 

I curled my fingers as I moved slowly in and out of her, while I rubbed my thumb against her clit. She gasped.  Her breath uncontrolled and her body shivered under my touch. I rolled my hips hard against my hand as I pushed deep into her. She gripped my arms tightly, and I knew she was so close to the edge. "Come for me, Gail," I whispered in her ear. She screamed my name and I felt her walls clenched around my fingers.

 

"Let me take you to bed," she said in my ear after she had recovered. I kissed her slowly this time and took her hand in mine. She got up from the locker and led the way to my bed.

 

As we stood in front of my bed she looked down my front smiling. She reached for my zipper and unzipped my jeans. After she pushed me down on the mattress she peeled the skin tight jeans down my legs. Her hands teased my inner thigh. I arched my back as she kissed her way down my body, paying special attention to my breasts and stomach. As she reached my hips with her lips she left a lingering kiss on my pelvic bone. She slowly took off my panties and paused briefly. She then looked at me with a sense of fear and insecurity.

 

I looked at her and smiled to ease her worries. No matter what, she couldn’t do anything wrong. I reached for her hand on my hips, took it in mine, and intertwined our fingers. I kissed the back of her hand and took her middle finger between my lips. I sucked on it and curled my tongue around it. Her eyes widen with desire. “Tease,” she mocked.

 

_Game on!_

 

With the warmth of her breath against my skin, just above where I needed her, I took a bit more of her finger into my mouth and sucked it. She grabbed onto my hips and pressed into me. I could not ignore the wetness between my legs any longer. I pulled her finger out of my mouth slowly, letting my teeth graze the skin. I guided her hands down to my breast and she kneaded it. Her other hand came up to mirror the action while she lowered her head to where I wanted her.

 

She hovered above my center for a second and blew cold air against it. The sensation of this was mind blowing. My back arched up and I moaned loudly. She licked between my folds and lingered at my clit.

 

"Gail, please," I pleaded full of need and desire. She entered me with her tongue and swung her arms around my legs to pull my wet center nearer to her mouth. As if she sensed my climax building, she replaced her tongue with her fingers and while her tongue teased my clit. Falling over the edge my body shuddered and I moaned and breathed incomprehensible words while she kept her pace. She let me ride out my climax and started to kiss her way up my body, her fingers still buried inside of me. As she let me taste myself on her tongue she pulled her hand out. I winced as she stroked the swollen bundle of nerves on her way out. She broke the kiss and looked into my eyes. I couldn't stop smiling. With one of my hands I reached for her still wet hand and linked our fingers with my other hand I reached around her back to hold her close. She lowered her head on my chest and tapped to the beat of my heart with one of her free fingers.

 

We laid in silence for a few minutes before she wrapped her legs around mine pulling me close to her. She winced as the side of my body was pressed against the sensible part between her legs. I gave her a kiss on the head and stroked her back.

 

"Holls? What was bothering you this evening?” she asked while she placed a kiss above my heart. “If it was because I couldn't tell my friends about us, I’m sorry." In moments like this when we´re lying in each other’s arms, vulnerable, she didn't need words to express her feelings. And I didn't need them to understand she's in as deep as me. In moments where she shows me what she was feeling. Even a simple action like a kiss above my heart conveyed her feelings for me. I really was ok with being in the closet for her, as long as she kept showing me her feelings.

 

"Believe me babe, it wasn't because of that. Like I said I'm cool with it as long as I can take you home." I answered smirking. She groaned and probably rolled her eyes. She shifted her position so she was lying on me, her legs between mine and her lips just a few inches away from mine. I winced at the sudden contact with her skin.

 

"Can we talk about it tomorrow? I don't want to think about it right now." I said while I reached forward for her lips. She closed the remaining distance and I rolled my hips. We both moaned in response.

 

"Am I that good?" She asked smiling after she broke the kiss. This time it was my turn to roll my eyes. She chuckled and laid her head down. I felt her chin pressed against my chest. I reached forward and gave her a kiss on her forehead. She shifted her head and gave me a kiss on my chest, while she rolled her hips. I moaned and turned us around. I straddled her waist and rolled my hips in a slow motion. She pulled me down to kiss her again and moved her hips up. We rocked our bodies together, moaning at the sensation which flooded through our body.

 

I collapsed, lying on top of her. She turned us around and wrapped her arms around me. Lying half on top of me and half on the bed she stared me lovingly in the eyes before she turned her head and placed it on my chest. I placed a final kiss on her forehead before I fell asleep smiling.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun flooded through my curtains and fell on my face. I opened my eyes slowly. I spooned Gail and felt her naked body pressed against mine. My hand lay flat on her stomach while her hands clenched at my arm she used as a pillow. She looked like an angel with the sun shining on her.

 

_My angel._

 

I gave her a soft peck between her shoulder blades and carefully moved her hair out of her face.

"Holly, close the curtains," she mumbled while she turned around in my embrace.

"Good morning, sunshine," I said while I kissed her on the lips.

"Come back," she mumbled as I pulled back a bit. She nuzzled her head in my neck. I turned my head and placed a kiss on her temple.

 

"Come on, I'll make breakfast. You're off today, right?"

She nodded and pulled me closer to her. We laid in bed for a while kissing each other every now and then subtle on the shoulder, the chest, the neck, the temple and the nose. Suddenly she pulled away.

 

"You know, you owe me an explanation," she said while she chuckled.

"Yesterday was a hard day at work. I had a lot to do. But the worst of it all was an autopsy I performed on a teenage boy. It's always hard to perform them on kids."

"The young guy from the shooting?"

"Yeah, you heard about it?"

"Traci mentioned something. But it's not her case." She placed a kiss on my lips.

"Thank you for yesterday. Thank you for being there. Thank you for kicking Dov's ass in trivia. You know how important it was for me."

"I liked it. I like your friends and I like the way you act around them, even if my mind went crazy after the ladies room. You know how to drive a woman crazy."

“So you are crazy and I´m insane? We fit together nicely, don’t you think?”

We both laughed.

 

"Speaking of which, what did Traci tell you at the bar?" she asked.

 

_BUSTED!_

 

"Uhm... Uh... Hmm..." I stammered while she looked at me curiously.

 "Babe, go on."

 “She said next time I should make sure you left no lipstick on my neck." I held her tight to make sure she won't run away. Surprisingly, she didn't make a move. She pressed her head in my neck and started sobbing. "Gail, baby I'm sorry."

She lifted her head a bit and I realized she was laughing, not crying.

 

"She knows about us, and that you rocked my world the last two nights. She'll probably give you the _‘don’t-you-dare-to-hurt-her-talk’_ soon." Gail said.

"Don't worry, I already received the talk but she added the _‘or-I’ll-kill-you’_ part. Should I be scared? I mean all of your friends carry guns.” I chuckled and gave her a quick kiss. “Did she say anything to you while you were downing your shots? You know, about her knowing that we are an item?"

"No, not really."

 

“Okay. Well, enough talk about Traci. I’m not in the mood for it right now, “she said as she pushed me down on my back and laid on top of me. Her hips thrusted forwards and she gently pressed her thigh against my center.

 “Oh, so what you are in the mood for?” I asked while I bended my thigh and started to meet her pace. We grinded against each other while staring in each other’s eyes. I could look at her eyes for the rest of my life. Her eyes were as deep as the sea. They showed every shade of blue. She let me see a lot of these shades but I'll probably never see all of them.

 

Slowly, she increased the pace and our moans got louder in response. I felt my climax coming and I also felt hers built up in her. Her eyes fluttered close and her head arched back.

 "Gail, look in my eyes while you come for me."

 She tried to focus her eyes on me. I reached with my hand for her chin. She mirrored my action. Her eyes were deep blue and the look she gave me was all it took for me to come.

 

Normally I'm not a screamer but with her eyes fixed on mine I couldn't help myself and scream her name loudly. While I climaxed I scratched her back again and she dug her nails in my ribcage as her orgasm rocked through her body.


	10. Chapter 10

As we laid next to each other in bed, resting, my stomach started to rumble.

 Holly giggled. "Hungry?" she asked while her eyes looked at my belly.

 My tummy rumbled again. "I'll take that as a yes. I'll make waffles. You could join me...No wait, stay in bed. I'll bring breakfast to you," she said as she got out of the bed. She placed a kiss on my back and my whole body shivered.

 

_Damn, her soft lips._

I covered myself in the blankets and watched her. She was wearing her soccer jersey, the one I wore yesterday. Now I understood why she looked at me with hungry eyes. She was barely covered from the hips down. I took in the sight of her half naked body and remembered what she had told me about Traci. Traci was my best friend, and I was okay that she knew about Holly and me. She would have figured it out eventually, being the smart detective that she is. I realised what Traci meant while we were taking shots at The Penny. She was happy for me, for us.

 

 Holly came back and placed the plate on the blanket.

 "Holls, I want to show you something after breakfast, okay?"

 "Yeah, sure," she smiled while she handed me a waffle. In the middle of the waffles she made heart shaped syrup spots. I rolled my eyes and looked at her, smiling.

She blushed and shrugged her shoulders.

 

After breakfast, Holly took a shower. I thought about joining her, but decided to give her a couple of minutes to herself.  Besides, I wanted to take a look around her place.

 

I picked up her jersey that she left on the bed and hold it against my chest. I sat at the edge of the bed and looked at the studio apartment. I got up and walked over to her book shelf. Reading through the titles, I recognised the report I saw at her office on the day we met. There were also some nerdy books, all unfamiliar to me. I walked over to the wall with her pictures. I recognised Holly and Jordan. In one picture, Holly’s eyes are red and she is leaning on Jordan’s shoulder. Jordan has her hand around Holly's shoulder and they are smiling into the camera. In another picture, a man is hugging Holly and they are both smiling. I assumed it was her brother. There was also a collage of pictures of Holly graduating from different schools. I also saw a picture with an elderly couple, which I assumed were her parents. Then there was one picture that took my interest. It was a picture from Noelle's wedding. It looked like the one Traci took of the two of us while we were sat at the bar, right before we stole the bottle of champagne and went to the coatroom.

 I smiled as I thought about the coatroom.

 I walked over to her leather couch, sat down on it, and flicked through the newspaper which was lying on the coffee table. I looked around the apartment again, and thought about sneaking through several drawers, but decided against it.

 

The sound of the shower drew my attention to the bathroom, and I decided to join Holly. As I opened the shower door, her back was turned to me. I stepped in and hugged her from behind and held her tight. I placed a kiss between her shoulder blades.

 "Do you know how amazing you are?"

 "Yeah,” she giggled. “Someone mentioned it a few times, last night."

 I bit the juncture between her neck and shoulders lightly. "You know what I mean," I answered as I grabbed her ass. In a fast movement, she turned us around and pressed me against the tiles. I felt her hard nipples pressed against my back.

 "You are not so bad yourself." She huskily whispered in my ear while letting her lips brush against my ear.

 I inhaled sharply.

 "But, we are not doing this now, because you said you wanted to take me somewhere. If we start this now, you know we won't stop. I really want to see where you planned to take me." She placed a kiss on my neck and reached for the shower gel.

 

After we finished our shower, we went to the bedroom. Luckily, I packed a few things to wear from the Peckstein-Diaz casa yesterday, so I could wear my own clothes.

 As we got ready for our date, I sat on the bed and watched as she stood in front of her dresser.

"So, this is how girls get dressed together?" I asked smiling, referring to our conversation in the coatroom. “One woman stands in front of the dresser while the other one enjoys the view?” She put on her bra slowly before turning around. She walked over to me in just her bra and her panties her socks in her hand. I swallowed loudly impressed by her perfect body. She stood in front of me and put one leg on the bed. She put on her sock seductive before she slowly slid her hands up her own legs. I couldn’t take my eyes from her hands. I bit my lips and swallowed again. She giggled when I looked up at her.

 "I haven't undressed you once and you haven’t undressed me and… we hadn’t have sex. So, no this is not how girls get dressed together." She placed a kiss on my lips.

 “We can change that,” I said as I reached for her waist. She took a step back and laughed. “Tease!” I muttered under my breath. She continued to put on her clothes and I watched her every move. She knew how to drive me crazy, and judging by the damp feeling between my legs she was doing a good job.

 

"Come on, Sweetie. Hurry up. What’s with all this picnic stuff," she asked curious.

 "Slow down, Darling," I grabbed the basket and a blanket. "Keys!" I said sternly.

 "What? You want to drive my baby? You know, he turned 24 last week!"

 "Easy there tiger, I’ll be gentle with him. Besides, you can't drive while you’re wearing this," I explained, holding up a black tie.

 “What’s that for?” she asked.

 “You’ll see,” I blindfolded her and helped her into the car. It was a small old sports car, but it really did not drive that fast. Sometimes I wondered how she managed to fit in the car. It's wasn’t that high. My head would sometimes hit the roof as I got into it. I’m sure Holly, being slightly taller than me would probably bump against the roof more often. It wasn't the prettiest car, but she always said ‘he’ had a story to tell and she loves to listen to him. I didn't get why she always called it a ‘him,’ but since she gave ‘him’ a name, there was no place for questions.

 

I drove to a nice green place besides the forest where we first met. I spread the blanket and arranged the food that I packed. Since Holly insisted on healthy food, most of the meal contained fruits.

 

_But, I wanted cheese puffs._

 

She shifted uncomfortably as I set up for our picnic without talking to her. I walked over to her and kissed her. Slowly at first, but my tongue asked for entrance into her mouth. She opened her mouth a bit and sucked in my tongue. I shivered at the sensation and reached around to the blindfold.

 "Surprise!" I said. Her eyes told me she was surprised and happy. The normally deep brown eyes lit up to a softer and brighter brown. I took her hand and led her to the blanket. She sat down and I settled between her legs. Her hands were placed behind her and as soon as I snuggled myself a bit into her she swung her arms around my body. She pressed my back against her front and we sat there a while in silence.

 "You hungry?" I asked after a while.

 "Sure, if you’re going to feed me," she answered giggling. I groaned and rolled my eyes but unable to stop the smile on my face. We melted into each other. I leaned forward to grab an apple and a knife. I broke the apple in two parts and she looked amazed.

 "Wow. You really are hiding some strength in your noodle arms."

 Honestly, I just wanted to impress her.

 

_Mission accomplished._

I took the knife and cut the apple in slice. Turning around in her embrace,I fed her the first slice. She took half of the slice in her mouth and I decided to bite in the other half.

 

_Thank you, Lady and the Tramp!_

 

We kissed each other slowly. I opened my eyes again and couldn't help the smile on my face.  Then hit me; she was my girlfriend! I, Gail Peck, somehow managed to get an amazing woman. At the sudden realization, flash of guilt washed over me.

 

_Shouldn't I be able to show the world that she is with me?_

 

_Shouldn't I reassure her that I'm in deep?_

 

_Shouldn't I..._

 

"What's wrong, Darling?" she ripped me out of my thoughts with her question.

 "You deserve more," I stated simply. She gave me a questioning look. "I mean you’re great you know, and I'm not even able to tell my friends what you really mean to me; who you really are. You are more than just a ‘friend.’

You are my girlfriend and don’t even allow myself to show it." I looked away ashamed of myself.

 "Gail," she took my chin between her thumb and her forefinger and forced me to look at her. "Look around, you made a picnic. You don't even like being out in nature unless you have to, but here you are, in the woods with me. Don't you think it shows you are in deep? And as I told you before, Traci knows about us. You didn't run away. Don't you think that's a good start? I was in the closet long enough and I know how hard it is to tell everyone who the woman besides you really is. I understand your uncertainty and like I said before, I'm cool with it as long as you know who I am!" She leaned forward to kiss me, but I refused her kiss.

 "So, you are not mad at me because of my behavior?" I asked her.

 "Even if I were mad, you definitely made up for it last night," She whispered with a husky voice in my ear. We kissed each other and I pushed her down on the blanket. I placed my leg between her thighs as my phone vibrated.

 She broke the kiss. "If you want to use toys, you have to tell me!" she giggled as I blushed.

 I pulled my phone out of my jeans. It was Traci.

_Great!_

 

"Yeah!" I barked in the phone.

 "Wow, hello Gail. Hope you enjoyed your night," she said while she chuckled.

 "Something happened, Nash?" I asked.

 "Jeez, you’re in a really bad mood. Did I interrupt something?"

 My silence was answer enough for her. Holly giggled as she saw my face turn red.

 "Sorry Gail, I didn't know..."

 "Split it out Traci!"

 "Ok, ok, ok, it's donut day at the bakery Chris and I go to.  Would you like to meet us there later?  Ask Holly to join us.”

 I looked over to Holly. "It’s donut day at the bakery. Chris and Traci wants us to join them."

 She nodded. “Okay, sure.  Let’s meet them there.”

 I hung up and sat up again. I pulled Holly up with me and hugged. She snuggled herself into me and I enjoyed the warmth from her body.


	11. Chapter 11

"Do you know where we are?" she asked softly.

 

I kissed her neck and placed my head on her shoulder before I nodded. Of course, I immediately recognised the place. My heart jumped a bit as I looked around and started to remember the events that occurred at that very place. She is one of the sweetest persons I've ever met, but I wouldn't dare tell her though.

 

"The Department’s car was parked over there." I said while I lifted my hand from her stomach and pointed to a place about 50 meters away from us.

 

I pointed towards the forest. "There you called me ’Lunchbox,’ and I looked into the most amazing eyes I had ever seen.” I paused as I recalled how Gail looked that day. “I remember thinking ‘she’s cute,’ but boy, you were a pain in the ass." I couldn't help myself but smirk as she groaned.

 

"Sorry, but you were acting like one, too," I added, as she pushed her elbow in my stomach.

 

"Come on, let's go home." She said.

 

I wasn't sure if she knew she filled me with warmth around my heart when she referred to my house with the word ‘home.’ She got up and stretched out her hand to help me up. As we both stood she sent me to the car. Refusing to let me help her I strolled back to my car.

 

"Hello Darling,” I asked my car as I ran my hand along his roof. “Did she hurt you?" Smiling, I continued my private conversation with the one ‘male’ in my life. “Flin, when did I get so lucky to call her my girlfriend?” I asked patting Flin’s rooftop.

 

"Wait, don’t tell me you talk to your car?" Gail asked as she reached me and Flin.

 

I blushed and looked to the ground immediately feeling embarrassed.

 

Sometimes I talk to him when I need someone to listen to me. I knew he was just a car and he can't answer, but sometimes it's enough to just say things out loud.

 

"You know, he was the first," I said as I got back some of my confidence.

 

"First what?"

 

"He was the first who knew about my feeling for you." I whispered looking out of the car window.

 

"So, maybe I should interrogate him?” She asked while she chuckled.

 

"Go ahead. He won't tell you a thing.”

 

"So, what else does he know?" She asked placing her hand on my thigh.

 

I just shook my head in amusement. ”Not of the _things_ you are probably thinking about right now." I said as I took her hand in mine.

 

As we reached my apartment building she sent me up without letting me help her. As I fished for my keys in my bag, I heard someone behind me cleared their throat. I turned around and was surprised to see Jordan standing in front of me.

 

"Jordan!” I quickly grabbed her for a hug. ”Hey what are you doing here?"

 

"I’ve been waiting!”

 

"Have I missed something?"

 

"No!"

 

"So, why are you waiting?"

 

"For the past 15 years, I have sent you a postcard every time I'm away for more than two days? So, that makes at least, what? A hundred postcards? Half of them are from America. I know you should have received my postcard by yesterday. Normally you call but this time you didn’t! So now, I'm waiting." She said with a serious expression on her face.

 

"You're insane, you know that right?" I said while I placed a kiss on her cheek.

 

Gail turned the corner and stopped immediately as she looked to me and then Jordan. The expression on her face quickly turned as she realised who I was talking to. The hint of jealous in her eyes disappeared and she put on her ice queen expression.

 

I kind of liked her jealous side. She knew she didn't have to be jealous, but it showed me she cares.

 

The two of them looked at each other until Jordan cleared her throat again and looked over to me.

 

“Oh yeah, sorry. Gail, this is Jordan, Jordan, this is Gail.” I said quickly.

 

"Nice to finally put a face to the body Holly described while she was drunk." Jordan said as she extended her hand and Gail shock it firmly.

 

_Dear surface, please open up and swallow me._

 

I turned around, opened the door, and went inside trying to hide the shades of red on my face.

 

Jordan went in after me and Gail followed. I stopped her by her arm and kissed her cheek.

 

"I'm sorry." I said to her.

 

She nodded and walked into the kitchen while I followed Jordan to the living room.

 

"I'm sorry, I didn't know Gail would be here." She whispered.

 

"It's okay, I'm glad you finally met her." I said and she walked towards the couch.

 

As on cue Gail entered the living room, smiled to me and sat down on the other couch. I followed her and sat down beside her to face Jordan.

 

Jordan smiled at us and I shot her a warning glare.

 

_Don't you dare Jordan._

 

"Your description fits very well, Holly."

 

_Too late._

 

Gail looked at her hands in her lap and I could sense she felt embarrassed. I knew she felt uncomfortable when others talk about her.

 

"There is a charity event at the batching cages this weekend, I thought maybe we could go and kick some asses there." Jordan said as if she had sensed Gail felt uncomfortable.

 

I remembered my trip to the batching cages with Gail and smiled.

 

"I don't know, maybe. What do they support with the money they raise?" I asked.

 

Jordan smiled, and I knew it wouldn't end well.

 

"They’ll use the money to support your club.”

 

I looked at Gail who had a confused look on her face.

"May I tell her?" Jordan looked over to me.

 

_You will tell her anyway._

"Holly thought it was unfair that there were clubs for only boys. So, she created the first all-girls baseball club. And do you know what happened when the club was opened and played for its first charity? Holly wanted to show everyone that she could play. I think she was little too sure of herself that day, and instead of hitting the ball, she swung the bat, stumbled backwards, and hit the owner of the cages in the face with it. You should have seen her face. It was hilarious!"

 

Jordan burst out laughing as my face turned red. Gail just smiled knowingly.

 

“She didn’t tell you?” Jordan asked her.

 

“No,” Gail answered.

 

“She probably didn’t want to embarrass herself,” Jordan said and winked at me.

 

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

 

"What? You know it's the truth." Jordan shot back with a smile. I looked over to Gail hoping to find some support, but found nothing. Gail just shrugged and continued smiling.

 

I got up and walked over to the kitchen to hide my Bordeaux-red face, and avoid any further embarrassment. I returned to the living room with bottles strawberry smoothies, and handed them to Gail and Jordan. Gail look at the drink like it was some kind of weird thing. I smiled and remembered she was not a fan of anything healthy.

 

"Want a coke?" I asked her, but she opened the bottle and took a small sip.

 

“No, this is good!” she smiled. “Thanks.”

 

"You remember the first time we made smoothies?" Jordan asked as she studied her bottle.

 

"Zip it, Jordan,” I said smiling. "Remember, Gail is a police officer?" I added.

 

"This sounds like it could be interesting," Gail said.

 

"Great, now you're her ally?" I asked her playfully.

 

She shrugged, and looking over to Jordan.

 

"Anyway, we were on this field full of vegetables and the lady over here," she pointed to me, "decided she wanted some of the vegetables we saw. So we picked a few vegetables, but before we could leave the field the farmer appeared."

 

She burst out laughing, and I knew I had to continue the story.

 

"He called the police, and they came to arrest us." I mumbled as I looked down. Gail immediately laughed again.

 

"We were arrested for stealing and running away from the police." I whispered embarrassed, and glared at Jordan who could not contain her laughter.

 

"When the police finally caught us, Holly asked if they were going to cuff us. She kept pleading with the officers, telling them that we were sorry, and she could not get arrested or she wouldn't be able to become a doctor." Jordan said as she got up and walked over to the kitchen.

****

"These must be yours?" Jordan asked Gail as she walked back to the living room holding a bag of cheese puffs. Gail nodded and smiled.

 

"Finally, one who knows what´s good." Jordan tossed the bag of cheese puffs to Gail who caught it easily.

 

"You two are gross," I complained, taking a bite of my apples, as they both started to laugh at me. I wasn't quite sure if I was happy about them meeting each other.

 

Jordan’s phone rang and she excused herself from the living room.

 

"I'm really sorry, I didn't know she would be here," I apologized to Gail. She was rather quiet since we arrive at my apartment to an unexpected visit from Jordan. I wasn’t sure what she thought of my best friend, and I would have really loved to find out what was going on in her head at that moment.

 

"Don't be. I like her. She's nice."

 

Jordan walked back to the living room. "Sorry, that was your brother. He told me to say ´ _hi_ ´. At least _he_ doesn't forget to call!" She said while she glared at me.

 

"Jordan, it was one time." I said defensively.

 

She burst out laughin.

 

"One time? It was one time today you mean. Do you remember in college when I had to call you every day to remind you to go to bed and stop studying? Then I asked you one time to call me to save my amazing ass from a horrible date, and you forgot because you wanted to watch Doctor Who?" Gail laughed.

 

_Thank you, Jordan. As if you haven’t embarrassed me enough, already._

 

"Well it's always nice to tell old stories, but your brother asked me to pick him up. His car broke down again. When will you two finally learn to buy new cars?"

 

"Hey, don't you dare to compare my Flin with his Sarah." I said to her while Gail started to giggle.

 

"Yeah, yeah. Let them have sex and a kid. Then we can call it a Volksmustang," She said with her best German accent.

 

_That would be amazing._

 

“It was nice to meet you Gail. Maybe we can share more Holly stories again.” Jordan said as she walked over to the door.

 

I followed her and turned to place a kiss on my cheek. “She’s hot, Holly, and seems nice.” I smiled at my best friend. “I’ll call you later.” She winked at me as I nodded, and left.

 

I walked back to the couch to be greeted by Gail with a kiss on my forehead.

 

"Are you still thinking about the Volksmustang?" she asked. My face turned red.

 

_Yes and no._

 

She shook her head and got up.

 

"Jordan is nice," she said. I just smiled and looked over to her.

 

"Yes, she can be," I laughed.

 

"Why haven’t you told me about you being arrested? Or about your club at the batching cages?" Gail asked curiously as she strode to look at the pictures on the wall.

 

I watched her closely as she brushed her hand lightly over the frames. She smiled when she reached the photo we took at the wedding.

 

“Did you listen to her story? It was embarrassing?” I said laughing. She winked as she looked over to me, still smiling.

 

"Who gave this to you, and when?" She asked as she pointed to the picture of us.

 

"Frank had a few questions about a report, so he asked me to stop by his office. While I was there Noelle appeared and offered that photo to me. I took it and bought a frame for it on the same day."

 

I walked over to her and hugged her from behind. I placed a kiss between her shoulder blades and laid my head down on her shoulder.

 

"I like this picture of us. You look beautiful," I said and she placed her hand on my cheek.

 

"Come on we have to go to the bakery," I said and took her hand in mine.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey Hey Hey,**

**who would have guessed, but I´m still alive, and so is the story.**

**So sorry for the long waiting, I hope this Chapter is worth the waiting.**

**100 Follows, you guys are amazing, thank you, also a huge thank you for the favorites :)**

**and also your kudos :***

**I really appreciate it.**

**It's in Gails POV and the thoughts are in italic**

**so now I will shut my mouth and let you read the story :)**

**Let me know what you think**

* * *

The bakery was a few blocks from Holly's apartment, and since the weather was nice and warm, we decided to walk the short distance. Chris and Traci were already waiting for us in front of the bakery. As we rounded the corner of the building, to my surprise I saw Leo standing with them.

"Hey, kid!" I yelled to get his attention.

"Aunty Gail!" he smiled. Before I knew it, Leo ran towards us and jumped on me for a hug. He nearly knocked me down, if it wasn't for Holly who helped steady me from behind.

"I haven't seen you in ages! Where has your mom been hiding you?" I teased taking a step back to look at him again. It amazed me at how much he had grown. He was just as tall as me, with broad shoulders of a young athlete. His black curls were slightly longer than I could recall, and his face started to show signs of maturity. But I could still see traces of the cute little boy I remembered with his sparkling deep brown eyes and mischievous smile. I whispered in his ear, "I would do the same if you were my son." I gave him a playful wink, which earned me a smile that reached his eyes.

Leo looked curiously past me. "Leo, this is my good friend Holly. Holly this is Traci's son, Leo." Leo offered Holly his hand with a wide smile, as she took it for a friendly handshake.

"Are you a cop as well?" he asked.

"No, actually, I'm a doctor."

Leo turned and looked at me with a worried expression on his face, "Aunty Gail, are you sick?" Holly tried to hide her giggle as Leo continued to look at me.

"No Sweetie, I'm not sick," I assured him while patting his back. "Holly is not  _my_  doctor." Then a quick thought of Holly and me 'playing' doctor crept into my head, and I chucked silently to myself.

_Get a grip, Gail! Not in front of the kid._

"Can you be my doctor?" he curiously asked Holly, with a huge smile and high expectations.

Holly hesitated with her words. "I don't think that's possible." Seeing the smile on Leo's face quickly fade away, she amended her response. "As much as I would love to be your doctor Leo, I can't. You see, I work with dead people."

"Ew.." Leo squealed. Holly couldn't help but smile at his reaction. Leo looked between Holly and me.

"What do you mean, you work with dead people?" he asked after a second.

"Well, your mom and your aunt and all the others, they catch the bad guys," she started as I listened to her explain her work to my curiously looking friend. Leo nodded with interest. "And, I help them by examining the dead and telling their story."

"Okay, but still…ew..." he said. I couldn't stop the laugh which escaped me after seeing the slightly disappointed look on Holly's face. I patted her arm sympathetically, "You can't win them all, doctor." She laughed, and hit me playfully on my shoulder.

When we entered the bakery, the place was bustling with the typical afternoon crowd. Chris and Holly walked over to an empty table while Traci, Leo and I took in the display case of donuts. Leo and I eyed the sweets hungrily. Traci joked about having to hold the both of us back from jumping over the counter and eating everything in sight.

Chris was the typical creature of habit, requesting his usual glazed donuts. It was always easy to find something that he liked. Holly loved fruits, so I knew exactly what to get her, and those were the donuts that I normally dodged. Leo ordered a few of his favorites for himself and took his and Chris' order over to the table. I picked out a couple of donuts for Holly and me. There was a donut with raspberries on it, which was shaped like a heart. I knew Holly loved raspberries, and well, I loved Holly.

_Perfect!_

As Traci and I reached the table, Chris and Leo were finishing the last pieces of their donuts. Traci sat down beside them and I took my place beside Holly. I placed the donuts in front of her, and she smiled when she saw them.

"Wow, you really ordered something healthy. How is that even possible?" Chris asked.

Holly started laughing, as I glared at him. "Can you believe she even spent some time in nature today?" Holly asked. I started to feel flushed and began to worry about what Holly would tell them about our little outing in the woods.

"You were what?" Chris asked. Traci smiled, seeing me blush.

"Yeah, I dragged her out for a picnic in the woods," Holly answered.

I looked over to Leo, who appeared to be admiring Holly as she spoke. She seemed to have the same effect on him like she had on everyone else. Like me, they all genuinely enjoyed being in her company. I mean, who wouldn't be drawn to her friendly smile and affectionate laugh.

_Or, m_ _aybe it's just you, Peck_ _._

Although it wasn't really important to me if others liked Holly, it would make things a lot easier when I tell them that she was more than just a friend.

"Hey champ, what do you think about you and me going to the zoo next time I'm off?" I asked Leo.

"Really? Oh, that would be so amazing!"

"I mean only if it's okay with your mom," I said looking over to Traci.

"Please, mom," he said while he munched on his donuts.

"Leo, please don't talk while your mouth is full of food," Traci reminded him. "Your Aunt Gail's habits are certainly rubbing off on you." Traci looked at me with a disapproving frown.

"HEY!" I tried to defend myself, only to realize that my own mouth was full as I spoke. Everyone started to laugh at me.

"See, that's exactly what I meant," Traci said after she contained her laughter.

"Don't listen to them Leo. They're just jealous that they are not as amazing as we are," I said to him with a wink.

"Anyone interested in a second round?" Chris asked while he got up.

"Yeah, another raspberry donut for me please," Holly said.

I pointed to my chocolate one and held up a finger. Chris nodded as he understood what I was asking. Leo dragged his mother over to the counter, leaving Holly and me alone.

"He's cute. You're cute together," Holly said after the others were out of earshot.

"No, Leo's the cute one. Not me."

She looked at me and smiled. Holly reached for my hand and squeezed it gently. "Well, call me bias, but I think you're cute, too." I looked at our hands and back at her with a blushing smile. I wasn't completely comfortable holding hands in public, but her hand felt nice and warm.

Briefly lost in my thoughts, I didn't see Chris approach our table. It startled me and I quickly pulled my hand away from Holly. As Traci sat down, she looked between Holly and me, and smiled. I smiled at her nervously, trying to ignore what she may have seen.

"So, what are you two up to today?" Traci asked. I shrugged as I continued eating my donuts.

"Do you wanna go to arcade?" Leo asked me before anyone else could say something.

"Absolutely, kid!" I answered Leo immediately with a high five.

As soon as we have finished our donuts Leo rushed us out of the bakery and headed several doors down to the arcade center. The first game he wanted to play was air hockey. We made teams of two, me and Leo versus Chris and Holly. I saw something in Holly's eyes I hadn't seen before – competition – and I was ready for her.

_Game on!_

We played a few matches until something behind me caught Holly's attention and she couldn't concentrate any longer. I looked over my shoulder and saw a huge "doctor" game on a table, the one you have to put in the bones.

"I'll be back in a second," Holly said as she passed me smiling. I just rolled my eyes at her.

_Nerd_ _!_

Leo dragged me to another one of his favorite games. I tried to distract him by poking or tickling him, but he held his ground and beat me several times. I really missed spending time with him. As we played, I kept stealing glances at the doctor engrossed in her newly found toy. She smiled brightly and it seemed she hadn't any problems finding the right bone. A little girl who stopped to watch the game in progress kept staring at Holly and asked her things about the game, which Holly happily explained. She described were the bones fit and which organ had to be placed where.

Minutes later, Holly walked back to us with a wide smile on her face. I laughed at her smug look. "Nerd!" I said without taking my eyes off the game screen.

"Now I know why you come here so often!" she said like excitedly. "That game was amazing! So, the bones are all in the right places, their even called right. I mean there are just the easy ones like ulna or radius or the pelvic. Oh and the femur and the ribs. But it's not just the bones, the organs are also right and even shaped pretty good, I mean for example the brain, it's not as soft as a real one or as complex but it looks familiar and the lungs..."

_Who's the kid now, huh?_

I didn't really listen to her ramblings about all the bones. Just nodded absently and continued to play my game.

"You're not even listening, are you?" She asked stopping midway through her typical rambling.

"No, I'm in the middle of something important," I offered softly, slowing looking up to meet her eyes.

"No wonder you're not up on your medical jurisprudence," she retorted with a mischievous wink.

"Leo, try to finish your game. We should go home soon," Traci stated.

"Really, mom?" Leo and I shouted with a pout on our face.

"Your Aunt Gail has been enough of a bad influence for one day," she added smiling.

"Hey!" I protested.

"You are the best Aunt ever," Leo said while he placed a kiss on my cheek.

_Hah!_

"Come on Casanova," Traci said to Leo.

Leo hugged me and held me tight he didn't want to let go of me. "Come on bud, you should go. You know, before your mom gets mad at me and hides you again." I told him before I hugged him once again. He placed a kiss on my cheek and I felt my smile grew wider.

We said our goodbyes outside of the arcade, and I promised Leo we would see each other soon.

"Come on softy, let's go home." Holly said to me reaching for my hand.

On our way back to Holly's apartment, I received a text message.

_**Shaw:** _ _**You, me, and donuts! Stakeout tomorrow! See you soon!** _

I groaned at Oliver's text. The thought of being stuck in the van for a whole day wasn't something I enjoyed, but spending time with Oliver and donuts would make the time bearable.

As soon as we reached Holly's apartment, I threw myself on her couch face down, and let out an exhausted sigh. "As much as I love Leo, he can be exhausting," I spoke into the cushions.

"Maybe if you would act a bit more like an adult, you wouldn't be that exhausted," Holly said as she looked through take-out menus.

I lifted my head a bit, looked in her direction and raised an eyebrow. "Right! Says the one who got all excited about a "doctor" game." I mumbled quietly.

"Hey, I heard that!" she scolded me.

She ordered some food without bothering to ask me, knowing that I was always hungry and would eat nearly everything. I closed my eye to rest until our food arrived.

"Come on, the food is here," I heard Holly in the kitchen, pulling me from my short nap. I just groaned hoping she would feel pity for me and bring the food into the living room. After a few moments, I got up and walked over to the counter. Holly handed me a fork and I started stuffing as much as possible in my mouth. My plate was empty within a minute, and Holly handed me the rest of hers leftovers. Grabbing it, I walked back to the couch and slumped down again.

Satisfied with my now filled stomach I lay down again. Facing the ceiling I zoned out, comforted by her singing while she did the dishes. I closed my eyes and concentrated on her voice. The noise in the kitchen stopped, but her singing continued until she directed her voice to me again.

"I'm going to bed, you coming?" she asked.

"You go ahead. I'll join you in a minute. Or..." I let my response trail.

"Or?"

"Or, maybe you could lend me a hand?" I teased with a mischievous smile.

She groaned, walked back to the couch and offered me her hand.

_Not really what I meant_ _._

I got up and she dragged me to the bedroom. I climbed into bed and made myself comfortable as Holly snuggled up behind me. I felt her hand stroking my stomach softly and her nose nuzzling into my hair. I snorted as I felt her breath even out against my neck. My own breath slowed down as I felt the sleep creeping up my bones and my muscles. Pressing myself against her, she tightened the grip around my stomach. Her other hand found mine above our heads and I found my way to sleep slowly, but steady.

I heard the faint sounds of footsteps, ones that I hadn't heard in a while, and the smell of the basement drew me in deeper. Then suddenly, I heard a familiar voice.

"Hello Gail. Miss me?"


	13. Chapter 13

**HOLLY`S POV**

 

I woke up unexpectedly when I felt a punch to my stomach. Before I could figure out what was happening, I felt someone pull my wrist. Gail was tossing and turning in my arms, struggling to free herself from my embrace. Assuming she was having a nightmare, I tightened my grip around her waist and pulled her closer to me. My abdomen hurt from the impact of her elbow, but I was more focused on calming her down.

 

“Gail…baby, its ok. It’s just me,” I whispered softly into her ear. She relaxed slightly before her whole body tensed up again.

 

“Don’t touch me!” she barked.

 

_Yup, definitely a nightmare._

I wished I could help end her bad dream without waking her up. In the university I learned it is better to allow someone to wake up on their own. The professor told us in our dreams or nightmares our subconscious tries to deal with everything what happens in our live. If we wake up by ourselves, then we win the fight and it’s more likely the nightmares stop sooner.

 

“Don´t you dare, you bastard! Don’t you even dare to touch her!” she said loudly right before I felt a second, even harder, jab to my stomach. This time I couldn’t contain the wince from the painful blow. Gail froze, and then quickly turned to face me. I could see her eyes were wide open with fear.

 

“Gail?”

  
“Holly,…you…I…he…,” she mumbled as stared at me. “I have to go!” she said hastily, pulling away from me and jumped out of bed.

 

I quickly moved to turn on the bedside lamp. “Gail, talk to me!” Standing on the opposite side of the bed, she looked at me with pleading eyes. I soon realized it was a battle I could not win.

 

“Where are you going? It´s 3 in the morning.” I asked calmly, hoping to stop her from running off again.

 

”I…I don’t know…” She shook her head. “The station? Or…I don’t know, I have to go.” she repeated, pulling on her jeans.

 

I moved to get off the bed and winced again from the pain in my stomach. Gail paused and looked at me with concern, and then she quickly put on her shirt and was out the door.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**GAIL'S POV**

 

I ran out of Holly apartment as fast as I could. It had been a while since I last dreamt about Perik, and now he was in my head again – FUCK! Now, my dreams, or rather nightmares were about that bastard once more. Before last night, it was me lying in the basement, strapped to a table, accompanied by images of Jerry´s body on the ground. This time it was different. This time he tried to hurt someone else, not just me.

 

**_Flashback_ **

  

_I was lying on a metal table. That was the first thing I perceived. I remembered falling asleep in the warmth of Holly’s embrace. Now I felt the cold metal pressed against my back. My other senses caught up immediately, and I tried to open my eyes, but it didn’t matter if they were open or closed because I blindfolded and everything was pitch-black._

_Something was strapped around my head. I tried to reach for it, but my arms were bound to the table on my sides. Panic quickly rose inside of me. I tried to move, kicking my legs and struggling to free my arms. The rattle of chains startled me, and screams of terror escaping my throat filling my ears. I tried to calm myself down, taking deep breaths and focusing on my surroundings again. I heard water running through the drain pipes, cars driving by and the wind blowing through the trees. Then I heard something awfully familiar. It was the one thing I feared the most - footsteps. HIS footsteps, right above me._

_Everything started to fall into place. The sounds, the smell, even the eerie darkness. I was back in the place of shear horror. I was back in Perrik’s basement._

_Suddenly, the door to the basement slowly opened and I heard him walk down the stairs. The fourth step was always the loudest. His footsteps became louder and louder until it stopped near me._

_“Hello Gail. Miss me?”_

_The sound of his voice sent a shiver down my spine. I felt his hand gently brush my cheek, and I immediately pulled away from him, clenching my jaw with pure anger._

_“Don’t touch me!” I yelled as loud as I could. Perik simply laughed as I tried desperately to break free from the table. He grabbed hold of my left arm and stabbed me with what felt like a needle. I screamed and cursed him to hell knowing he injected something in me. Within a few minutes, I felt my body starting to relax.  Perik leaned over me_ _as my eyes began to feel heavy. All I could think of was a million painful ways to wipe that smirk off his face. I watched his hand move to my body. The feeling of his fingertips slowing rubbing my stomach sickened me even more._

_“I have a present for you, Gail. I think you´ll like it,” he said while he loosened the straps around my wrists and ankles. I wanted to get up and fight him, but it impossible. My body quickly succumbed to whatever it was he injected in me. He lifted me up and carried me over to the wall where he tied me in a standing position. My wrists were quickly cuffed above my head, and my feet were bound together. He walked away, out of view for a moment, and then I heard the sound of him rolling in another stretcher. He laughed as he walked back to me._

_“Are you ready for your present, Gail?” he asked lifting the blindfold from my eyes. As I blinked repeatedly, adjusting to the light in the room, I looked to the stretcher in front of me and could make out a body under a thin sheet._

_“I didn’t want you to get lonely,” he said right before he ripped the sheet from the stretcher._

_Holly!_

_Frantic, I tried to scream and call out to her, but both were trapped in my throat. All I could do was stare at my beautiful Holly, strapped to the metal bar on the stretcher, lying there as if she was asleep. I looked at her, hoping to see the rise and fall of her chest._

_“Do you like your present, Gail?” he asked, lightly grazing a scalpel over her shirt. He then proceeded to cut Holly’s shirt open and pressed the scalpel down her sternum._

_I found my voice again and screamed, “Don’t you dare, you bastard! Don’t you even dare to touch her!”_

_The next thing I heard was a wince from Holly, and I found myself back in bed with her arms around me._

 

**_End Flashback_ **

 

Walking through the city I passed a park near Holly’s apartment. We’ve been here, once before we started dating. I walked over to the swings in the middle of the park, listening to the gravel crackle under my heavy boots. I sat on one of the swings after wiping it free of the morning dew, and started to swing slowly.

 

My mind I went through the details of the last few hours. As I replayed everything that had happened in the dream, I suddenly remembered the wince. Holly’s wince. I obviously hurt her. How? Why? It wasn’t in the dream. She winced as I woke up and later when she tried to stop me.

 

OMG! I can’t believe I hurt the one person who means the most to me! I ran out of the apartment without looking back; ran out on Holly without making sure she was okay; ran out on us, again.

 

_Dammit, Gail! Some girlfriend you are!_

I didn’t want to go back to Holly’s. If I go back, she would want to talk about the nightmares, about the abduction, about Perrik, and about Jerry. I wasn’t ready for that conversation. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her. I just couldn’t bring myself to burden her with more of the broken parts of me.

 

As I felt the first tear run down my cheek, I decided to head over to the station, do something productive.

 

After walking through the city a bit longer, I arrived at the station at 5am. The steak-out was scheduled to start less than two hours, so I had more than enough time head over to the shooting ranch to blow off some steam. I don’t know how long I stood there, shooting round after round, before someone placed a cup of coffee in front of me as I refilled my gun.

 

Oliver studied my work on the target ahead of us and took a sip of his own coffee.

 

“You’re early,” he stated without looking at me. He slid a bag of cheese puffs towards me.

 

“At least you know how to bribe me.”

 

Oliver smiled as he placed his hands in his pockets. I opened the treat sitting in front of me and put a few cheese puffs into my mouth.

 

“Come on grumpy, let´s fill the basket I stole from Celery with the good stuff,” he said. He placed his arm around my shoulder. I offered him a small smile while I shrugged off his arm. Placing my gun in the holster I took my coffee in the other hand and walked towards the exit.

 

We made it back to the station after a quick trip to the grocery store. I was glad Oliver asked for my help in shop, and load his cart with lots of donuts, bags chip and cheese puffs and all the other great food Holly and Celery would describe as unhealthy.

 

By 7am, we had already switched places with Andy and Dov in the undercover van which was cleverly marked as a telephone company maintenance vehicle. We sat in the van silently as we watched the TV monitors for potential drug smugglers near an old rundown clothing factory.

 

“Hey Peck, you see this smile?” he asked, after a long while. I looked over at him as he held half of a donut in front of his mouth.

 

I smirked at his playfulness, and nodded. “Awful, right?”

 

He chuckled. “Yeah, it’s pretty horrible. Actually, this smile should be on your face right now. I mean, you’re in good company with one of the best guys in 15, AND we are surrounded by all the treats you could ever dream. But, here you are without a smile.”

I tried to say something, but Oliver just continued.

 

”You were smiling last time I saw you,” He said, putting the last piece of his ‘smiley’ donut in his mouth. “What happened, Peck?”

 

I couldn’t help but smile at Oliver. He was always so concerned for me, and I was truly grateful to have him as a friend. I shook my head hoping he would stop the questions. I did not want to start a conversation that would distract us from current duties. Thankfully, Oliver got the message, and took his seat beside me without saying another word.

 

Silence filled the van once more. But the problem with silence is your thoughts get noisier, until you can no longer ignore them.

 

“Ollie?” I spoke hesitantly.

 

“Hmm…” was all I heard as he focused on the monitors in front of us.

 

“Have you ever…,” I paused, reconsidering what I was about to say. Oliver stopped his work and turned to give me his full attention. “Have you ever hurt a woman that you really cared about?”


	14. Chapter 14

**GAIL'S POV**

 

“What are you talking about?” Oliver asked me with a confused look on his face. “Wait, is this about Holly? Did she hurt you, Gail?” He jumped out of his seat, knocking it down in the process.

 

I shook my head.

 

“Okay, then why do you ask?”

 

I lifted my eyes to meet his, unable to admit my actions.

 

“Oh, did you…I mean, did you do something to her?” he asked cautiously.

 

I looked to the floor of the van. My shoulders slumped forward and I let out a audible breath.

 

“Hey, hey,” he said kneeling down in front of me. “Gail, look at me.”

 

I raised my head to look at him and saw how worried he was.

 

“What happened?”

 

I didn’t know how Oliver dealt with his abduction. I wondered if he felt as defeated and helpless as I did, or if it even occurred to him. “I had a dream,” I whispered. I hated how weak and shy I sounded.

 

I saw Oliver’s eyes flicker to the monitor for a brief second. “Perik?” he asked softly, as if he could read my mind.

 

“Something was holding me. I wanted to set myself free, but _SHE_ was holding me, and I accidentally...,” I stopped, trying to hold my tears in check. Oliver nodded as he checked the monitors.

 

“But you were dreaming, Gail…you know?” he asked.

 

“Does it matter? I mean I hurt her,” I answered, feeling defeated.

 

“Yes Peck, it does. You did not hurt her on purpose and I bet she knows that. That’s part of the deal when you’re in a relationship with a cop, kid,” he tried to assure me.

 

“And getting hurt by your partner comes with the deal?” I snorted again.

 

“No, not the ‘ _getting hurt_ ’ by your partner. I meant dealing with the nightmares. Dealing with being scared and worried. Wanting to know what’s going on in our heads, you know?” He waited for me to respond before he continued.

“You know kid, a cop is a cop, no matter if we are on duty or off duty. We are cops, and there is no “off-duty” for us. Being a cop is a lifestyle, not just a job. No matter how hard we try to separate the duty of an officer from the other parts of our life, it’s impossible. For you, it’s probably even harder because of your parents and their expectations of you.” Oliver got up from his chair and placed his hand gently on my shoulder.

 

“Look kid, Holly sees the outcome of what can happen to us every day. Maybe it’s a pro or maybe it’s a con, but you’ll both figure it out.”

 

I looked at him and nodded in agreement. Maybe he was right, maybe it was part of the deal, but being punched by me definitely wasn’t.

 

"Have you talked to her since this morning?" he asked as he turned to look at the monitors.

 

“No.”

 

"Let me guess, you ran out on her? Gail, you have to talk to her. Right now, you are your own worst enemy." Oliver handed me a bag of cheese puffs. He knew using food as bribery was the easiest way to make me talk.

 

"I hate you," I mumbled, taking the bag out of his hand.

 

"And you love me just the same," he laughed.

 

_Yes, that’s the truth._

We went back to work, watching the monitor again. We documented our observations of the scene outside our van. There were many individuals entering and leaving the house. Some of the men we saw leaving the house carried bags. Small ones when they entered the building, larger ones when they left it.

 

Suddenly, it occurred to me. I never told Ollie about Holly and me. How the hell did he know? I looked over to him as he intently watched the monitor.

 

"How did you know?" I asked.

 

"Know what?" he asked, taking a sip of his coke.

 

"About Holly?" I clarified.

 

"You mean, that you are spending your nights with the beautiful doc?" he chuckled. I shoved my shoulder playfully against his. I knew he was trying to keep our conversation light, and respect my privacy.

 

"Ouch! No need to assault me." Ollie whined. "Peck, as much as you think of yourself as this ice queen, you are not. You may be good at hiding your feelings, I’ll give you that, but for someone who knows you well,” Ollie stops and points to himself, “this favorite partner of yours can see right through you." He then offered a bar of chocolate.

 

I snarled. "Well, thank god I don't have a favorite partner!"

 

Immediately, he pulled the cheese puffs out of my lap, placed all of our sweets in the basket, and pushed it far away for me.

 

"HEY! What are you doing?" I demanded, trying to reach for the basket.

 

"Sorry, I share only with my favorite partners. And since you don’t have any, I’ll see if Epstein or Diaz will help me finish these treats." Oliver chuckled as he saw the glare on my face.

 

"Ugh! Ok, Ollie. You are my one and only favorite.” I mocked with a pouty smile. “Satisfied?"

 

"I know that's all I’m going to get, so yeah, I’m satisfied.” He placed the cheese puffs back in my lap.

 

"So anyway, back to the important topic for today," he said smiling at me. I felt a bit uncomfortable knowing he was interested in continuing our talk about Holly and me.

 

"Shall I remind you that I was there when Holly came to deliver something because the courier was…,” Ollie couldn’t resist teasing me when he air quoted, “… _sick.”_

_That was code for, ‘mind your own business,’ Ollie._

"You looked completely flushed when you came out of the interrogation room. I hope it didn't need to be disinfected after your encounter."

 

"Ew, no! We didn't do... Urgh...Ollie, you’re awful." I was shocked about his suspicion. I couldn’t believe he would even think that I would do such a thing.

"I suspected something was going on back then, but I knew not to ask. After you invited Holly over to the Penny, I realized you were head over heels for her."

 

I threw a cheese puff over to him. He caught it, and muttered something about wasting of food before he proceeded to eat it.

 

"It's a good thing, Peck. The doc makes you smile more. It’s nice to see you happy,” he said like a proud father. I couldn't help myself and placed my hand on his shoulder, squeezing it for just a second before turning back to the monitor.

 

The rest of our shift went by pretty fast, and as soon as the next shift appeared we went back to the station.

 

During the stakeout, I thought about what I should do about Holly. It wasn't fair to not talk to her, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to reveal this vulnerable, helpless part of me. Maybe that would finally scare her away. Then Perik would have destroyed something elsein my life. I knew I had to talk to her, I knew it was what she would want. Even if I wouldn’t be able to tell her about the abduction, at least I could apologize to her.

 

"Come on Peck, let's go to the Penny for a drink, or two," Ollie offered as we headed into the locker room. I really needed a drink to help me end the day, but I wasn’t in the mood for one of Oliver’s ‘life’ lessons. I liked his fatherly advice, but I would never tell him. I knew he cared about me in a way that few people did, and it felt good.

 

While grabbing my clothes out of the locker, I looked at my phone and saw messages from my brother, Traci and Holly. I opened the texts from Holly.

**Favorite lunchbox (3:20 AM): Gail, are you OK? Please call me. XOXO**

**Favorite lunchbox (4:50 AM): Hey, I’m worried about you. Text me…**

**Favorite lunchbox (7:48 AM): Went to look for you at the station. Traci said you’re on patrol. I would love to hear from you. Confirmation of your existence, maybe? :)**

 

My heart clenched as I read Holly’s messages. My plan to leave my phone in the locker was selfish. Holly was worried about me the whole day. She was that kind of person. Why do I always screw things up? Every time I tried to do what I thought was right in this relationship, I always seem to fail.

_Shit!_

"Peck!” Oliver yelled in the locker room. “I'm an old man. I don’t plan on dying here while waiting for you." Not wanting to leave him waiting any longer, I ditched the shower and quickly changed into my new set of clothes. I jogged towards the locker entrance to meet Ollie.

 

“Hey Oliver, I’m sorry, but I can’t go to the Penny tonight,” I said as I reached him. “Maybe tomorrow?”

 

“Sure Gail, next time,” Ollie smiled. “Tell Holly to join us, if she’s not too busy.”

 

“I will. Thanks, Oliver.”

 

I left the station not knowing where I should go. I didn’t feel like going home, and I wasn’t sure if showing up at Holly’s place was a good idea after everything that happened. I found myself walking through the city. I wasn’t in the mood to see people, or be seen by them, so I avoided the crowded streets and walked through silent alleys.Toodistracted by my inner debate about talking to Holly or not, I didn’t realize I was in front of the very park I stopped at in the morning.

 

When we first came to the park, I told Holly about my relationship with Nick, and Holly told me about her ex-girlfriend who broke her heart.

 

I settled on the swing again and listened to the sound of the city – cars passing by and an occasional driver honking, fire engine sirens blaring, and people chatting as they walked by. All these familiar sounds seemed to fade in the distance as the chatter in my head took over. The only thing I could hear loud and clear was a thunder from afar, which alerted me to the weather that was closing in.

 

The thunders became louder, and soon it started to rain heavily. The tears I felt running down my face as I thought about Holly were washed away. That’s the good thing about rain. No one would see my tears, no one would ask me if I was alright, and no one would pay attention to me. Everyone would escape the rain and go inside.

 

I needed to reread Holly’s messages. I pulled out my mobile and opened her messages.As I reread her last message, my mobile vibrated again.

 

**Traci: Hey, where are you? Ollie just walked into The Penny and said you passed on drinks and our company. Don’t like us anymore? BTW, I saw Holly today. She looked awful. Everything ok?**

_Thanks Traci! Just what I needed to feel even guiltier._

I wantedto know what Traci meant by her text.Before I hit the call button, I tried to calm myself down a bit, and waited untilmy sobs were under control.

 

“Hey Gail, wait for a sec. I´m looking for a quieter place,” Traci said loudly.

 

I heard a few _sorry’s_ , _excuse me’s_ and _may I_ on her way to a quieter place. I enjoyed the distraction coming from the other end the phone.

 

“Now, Hey!” she said softly as the background noise was quieter.

 

“Hey!” I greeted her.

 

“Everything ok? Holly came to the station earlier, looking for you.” I didn’t know what to say. The silence on my end was enough of an answer for Traci.

 

“Gail, she’s worried about you. You know, I meant what I said when I told you, you deserve to be happy. It seems like she makes you happy.”

 

“She does,” I said, myvoice breaking.

 

“So what happened?”

“I ran away again,” I barely whispered.

 

“Oh… Gail, may I ask why?” She asked softly withconcern.

 

“Well, you know, the day after the shooting I freaked out and ran out of her apartment. But you know, I went back. I… I went back to her, and… and she said it was ok. I promised her that I would talk to her instead of running away, like I did.” I rambled before I sobbed.

 

“Ok, ok so why did you run again?”

 

I shrugged, only to realize Traci could not see me.

 

“I dunno, well I do but... but…,” I trailed off, unable to tell Traci why I ran out on Holly again. She knew I felt guilty about Jerry and I didn’t want to remind her of him.

 

“Gail, no matter what happened, you need to talk to her. She´s worried. She really cares about you, you know? Do yourself a favor and call her. If not for you, do it for her.”

 

I mumbled between sobs.

 

“Okay then, I´ll let you do it now.”

 

“Bye, Traci” I said. “And, thank you.”

 

“Bye Gail, but hey, call her. She needs to know you’re ok,” she said before she hung up.

 

Never have I felt so awful. Regret, shame, guilt, sorry even anxious of what would happen next. Hearing Traci say how horrible Holly looked made me feel even more ashamed of my actions. I never wanted to hurt her, but I did, not just physically, but emotionally as well. I hurt us again. My sobs became louder as more tears streaming down my face.

 

I had to tell her I was sorry for everything, if I wanted to save our relationship. I needed to call her. My finger hovered over her picture, which she changed after our first night together. She was looking towards the camera smiling widely while I buried my face sideways between her shoulder and her neck, with a grin on my face. I was wearing her jersey, and she was covered by me and her sheets.

 

I hit the call button and waited for her to answer.

****

“Gail?”

 

“Holly,” I cracked between sobs. “I’m sorry.”

 

“Where are you?”

 

 “I, uh…” I sobbed after a few moments of silence. “I’m at home?” It wasn’t my intention to let it sound like a question.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“I don’t know…” I shook my head. “No, I’m not. I hurt you, and I am so sorry.” I whispered after a few moments of sobs.

 

“Gail…”

 

“Holly, can we talk?”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. 
> 
> Thanks for all your comments and kudos, going to reply to your comments tomorrow :)
> 
> Upload from my mobile hope the format didn't die :)

“Of course we can,” I snapped, surprising even myself with the slight harshness of my tone.

Ever since she left my apartment this morning I couldn’t relax, or concentrate on anything except her. Every time my mobile phone rang, I would jump to answer it and hoped it was her on the other end. Now, hearing her voice calmed my nerves a bit, but it did little to hide the fact that I was still upset with her.

I took a moment to settle down before I continued. “Gail, you know you can always talk to me,” I reassured her softly.

I didn’t know what her nightmare was about. I wish she stayed so we could talk about it. I wanted to understand why she was having nightmares and what would cause her to run like she did. I knew that whatever she dreamt about really scared her. I will never forget the pained look on her face.

“I…I don’t know where to start Holly. I’m a horrible person,” she sobbed.

“Gail, you are not horrible. Why do you think that?” I asked her.

“Because…I ran away…again. And, because…I hurt you.” I heard her inhale sharply as the thunder rumbled in the background.

“Where are you, honey?” I asked. She continued to sob as more thunder blared through the air. “Are you at home?”

“No,” she admitted.

“Where are you?” I asked again with concern after a few seconds of silence.

“I’m near your apartment.”

“Why don’t you come over and we can talk here,” I offered.

“Really?” she said quietly as I heard metal rattle in the background. I tried to figure out where she could be. The thunder and the rain sounded like she was outside. “Holly? Can you stay on the phone until I’m at your place?” she asked softly.

“Of course,” I told her. “I won’t hang up until you arrive here.” 

After a short while, I heard a knock on my door. When I opened it, Gail was standing in front of me with her arms crossed, shivering and completely soaked. Her hooded leather jacket did nothing to keep her dry, as her wet hair clung to her forehead. “Hi,” she said nervously.

I shook my head and smiled tightly at her. “Hi,” I replied. It sounded more like a question than a greeting. “C’mon, let’s get you into some dry clothes.” I stepped back to let her in my apartment.

Before I could say any more, Gail lunged towards me and swung her arms around my neck in a bone crushing hug. She took me by surprise, and for a moment I stood there with my arms wide open, staring at her. As I moved to hug her back, she pulled away and looked at me with a shocked expression on her face. “Uh, I’m sorry…for hugging you.” She stared at me in my now damp clothes. “I’m soaked,” she said shyly. 

“No need to be sorry. How about you go take a hot shower, then we can talk, ok?”

“Okay.” She nodded and padded slowly pass me towards the bathroom.

“I’ll grab some comfortable clothes for you,” I said, as she walked down the hallway, leaving small puddles of water in her path. “You want something warm to drink? Some tea or hot chocolate?”

“Anything is fine,” she said, turning back briefly to look at me, before closing the bathroom door. I heard the metal of Gail’s belt rattle just before the water started running.

I decided to make hot chocolate because Gail loved drinking it on rainy days. I walked over to the kitchen island and warmed up some milk for our drinks. After a few minutes, the timer announced that the milk was ready. I filled our mugs and took them over to the coffee table. I settled on the couch and waited for Gail to join me. It was a relief to finally know that she was fine. I contemplated on what I wanted to say to her. We really needed to talk about what happened today, and she had to know that whatever was troubling her affected me too. I knew she needed time to herself to sort things out, and I was more than willing to give her space. But not hearing from her for an entire day after she disappeared in the early morning really scared me.

I heard the bathroom door open. “Gail, I’m in the living room,” I called out to her.

Her pale skin shimmered red from her hot shower, and her hair was brushed and pulled back in a ponytail. I motioned for her to sit down on the couch next to me. As she sat down, Gail grabbed the blanket I kept on the couch, and pulled it around her to snuggle into. She picked up the mug and took a small sip of the hot drink. “Mmm…I love hot chocolate,” she said as she closed her eye and smiled.

“I know,” I said softly.

Gail sat back and looked down at the mug she cradled in her hands. “I'm so sorry, Holly,” she started. She raised her head until our eyes met. “I’m sorry for hurting you, and for running away, and for not answering or returning your calls, and causing you to worry. I’m sorry for everything I did wrong today.” Gail looked down at her hands. “I screwed up,” she mumbled.

“Gail, you’re here and that’s the most important thing, if you ask me. I just want to understand what happened in your dream. What made you leave without saying more than a few words?” I asked. I saw a flash of panic in her eyes and knew it must be something intense.

Gail set her mug on the coffee table and turned to look at me. “It was not a dream. It was a nightmare. It’s related to a case I worked on about a year ago. Holly, it was really bad.” Gail leaned back on the couch. “There was this guy who killed several women. I fit the profile of the women he targeted, so I was placed undercover and went on a date with suspect. They were able to detain him during our date and took him back to the station while I stayed back at the hotel bar.”

I remembered that case about those women. A detective died during the investigation, but didn’t know Gail was directly involved with it.

“Later that night, I took a cab back to Andy’s place, where I was staying at the time. Andy was staying with Sam, so I texted Nick to see if he wanted to come over.” Gail stopped and looked at me. “Nick and I were together back then,” she mumbled in the blanket.

I nodded to let her know that I understood, and wanted her to continue.

“Well, when I got to the apartment, I called Nick. There was a knock at the door and I thought it was him, but then…it wasn't Nick. It was Perik. As soon as I opened the door, he knocked me out and shoved the door against me, hitting me pretty hard. When he got a hold of me, he drugged me and the next thing I remember was I waking up in his basement. He blindfolded me and strapped me to a table.”

I remembered how worried I was when I heard about the shooting involving the 15th, but it was nothing compared to how scared I felt for Gail as she talked about her abduction. I knew Gail’s job is very dangerous, but to hear of it firsthand worried me even more. I started to feel the anger rise inside of me. I was so angry at the Perik for all that he did.

"Is that what your dream, I mean nightmare, was about?" I asked, still trying to get the images out of my mind.

She nodded and tears started falling from her eyes.

“You know, in all my nightmares I was the only one in his basement, strapped to a table. But last night, I wasn’t alone.” She swallowed hard. I began to feel a lump forming in my throat.

“You were there too, Holly. He drugged you and strapped you to the table. And he tried to…,” she paused, taking in a breath. “I watched him place the scalpel to your sternum.” 

I wasn’t sure what to say to her confession. I looked at her for a few moments. “Gail, thanks for trusting me and telling me what happened. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be to go through all of that."

Gail nodded and snuggled herself in the blanket again. “I'm really sorry for running away. I know I promised to talk to you when something is bothering me, but sometimes...," she trailed off and started to sob again.

“Do you want to talk about it? The basement or him?” I asked her.

“No, not tonight, if it’s okay with you,” she answered while looking at her hands.

“It’s okay with me. I understand if you don’t want to talk about it. But I want you to know that if you ever need to talk, I’m here for you okay?” Gail nodded and reached for her mug.

“I would like to talk about us,” she said as she looked at me.

“Sure, we can talk about us.”

“I need to fix things with you,” she said

“We are not broken, Gail.”

“My nightmare and everything that happed after that nearly broke us.” Gail’s whisper was nearly inaudible.

“No, that nightmare didn’t break us. No matter what you think, he is not that strong.”

“Are you still upset with me,” she asked.

“Honestly, today took a toll on me. I was so upset at you for running out on me, and shutting me out. That wasn’t fair. I was worried about you all day, and it made me wonder …,” my voice trailed off. 

Gail looked at me with concern. “Wonder what, Holly?” she asked.

“That you were creating your emergency situation,” I admitted sadly.

Gail shook her head. “Holly, no. Please don’t ever think that, okay?”

“Then what was I supposed to think, Gail? When we first met, you gave me fair warning of you –  
the cat in a tree?” I said raising my voice slightly. My emotions started to get the best of me.

Gail took my hand in hers. “It’s not like that, Holly,” she said shaking her head. “Not with you.”

“Gail, you had a nightmare and quickly ran out of here before I could say anything. I tried to call you. I texted you…hell I even went to the station looking for you. And you just disappeared on me; just totally ignored me.”

“I’m very sorry, Holly.”

My emotions got the best of me and I couldn’t contain my feelings anymore. It was the time to tell her that she needed to learn that she’s not alone in this. It’s not a weakness to open up and let others in, to talk about fears. That’s what a partner is there for. “Gail, I need you to talk to me when something like that happens. I want to help, but you have to give me a chance and let me in.”

“I know, I can’t keep running away. I’m just not good at all this, but I want to be for you! I want to be better, because you deserve better. I want to deserve you.”

"Why did you run away?" I asked her after I processed everything she just said.

"Honestly, I'm not quite sure. Seeing you in my dream was just too much. The thought of him hurting you…I didn’t know...," she said softly, shaking her head. “It was me who actually hurt you.” she added.

“Why didn’t you call or text me?” I asked curiously.

“You know, when I realized what I did, I regretted running away from you. But I couldn’t come back here. I wasn’t ready to face you,” she said while she looked at me intently.

I had never seen Gail so vulnerable before. Since we met back at the crime scene, she was always that snarky, bitchy, sarcastic woman. But seeing her now, she was so much more. It was hard to see her like this, with her guard down. It made me wonder what else happened to her in the line of duty that made Gail very guarded and closed off. I wondered what made her think so badly about herself. She let me see behind those thick walls; let me see the real Gail; the soft, vulnerable and insecure side of her. It showed me how much she trusted me, and how much I meant to her.

I looked down at our hands that were laced together and squeezed them.

“I promised to protect the people living in this city,” she suddenly started. “I promised this and then I hurt one of the best ones living here. It freaked me out. Usually, no one pays me any attention when I am upset and closed off. They just let me be and wait for me to come back. I think part of me was just scared of what you thought of me, and how fucked up I was. I thought that you didn’t want to deal with me anymore. If not this time, I’m sure next time I’ll finally send you running for the hills. No one ever put this much effort in me. Not like you do.”

Gail paused and drew a deep breath. “And there’s a bigger part of me that hopes someday you’ll forgive me for all that I’ve done. I don’t want to lose you. I’m not quite sure how you’ll continue to handle me, but I hope you’ll stick around and help me figure things out.”  
She eyes dropped to our hands, and then she let go. She reached for her mug and emptied it. She got up and nodded towards my mug. I handed it over to her after I downed the last bit and she carried them over to the sink.

As she stood by the kitchen island she looked at her feet awkwardly.

“Gail? What’s wrong?” I asked her.

“Can I stay here tonight?” she barely whispered.

“Of course. Why would I want you to go?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged before lifting her head. “I don’t know, it was kind of a long day, maybe you want to sleep or be alone. You know, think about everything” she admitted.

“Who says I can’t do that with you here?” Immediately a smile appeared on her face.

“So I can stay?” she asked again.

I walked over to her and put my arms around her and placed a kiss on the top of her head, to which I heard her giggle.

“I admit it was a long day. I would like to go to bed soon. I have an early shift tomorrow. What about you?” I asked her after a few moments of silent hugging.

“Me too,” she said and pulled away enough to look me in the eyes.

“Thank you for putting up with me.”

Instead of answering I took her hand and led her over to the bed. We lay down and she snuggled next to me. Her hands traced pattern on my stomach, carefully avoiding the area where she had hit me. Suddenly she lifted her head and looked at me curiously.

“Holly, may I see it?” she asked as she placed her hand on the hem of my shirt.

“You sure you want to? It’s not that bad Gail,” I told her, trying to reassure her. She nodded and I lifted my shirt a bit. Her eyes still fixed on mine she closed her hand around mine and lifted my shirt enough to reveal the bruise. She laid the shirt down and looked down to my stomach.

“Oh my god, what have I done? It looks bad,” she said voice breaking. The bruise was deep blue and black. 

“Hey,” I reached for her, and pulled her to me so I could look into her eyes. “For me it’s not that bad. It was worse when you ran away. But now that you are here with me, I know we will work on us, for the better.” 

She laid down beside me and pulled the blanket to cover us. Still looking at me, she pulled me closer to her and wrapped her arm tightly around my waist. Her other arm was strapped under my head and I used it as a pillow.

“I’m scared to fall asleep. I know I’ll dream about him again, or worse hurt you again,” she told me after we looked at each other for a while.

“Do you want to be held tonight?” I asked her while I stroke her spine up and down with my index finger.

“No, I want to hold you for a change, to remind myself you are still here,” she said softly. I turned to my side, and Gail pulled me close to her to spoon me from behind. She placed light kisses between my shoulders I shuddered as she kissed the soft spot behind my ear.

Gail pulled slightly. “Sorry,” she muttered and pressed a kiss to my shoulder before she nuzzled her head in my neck.


	16. Chapter 16

I woke up the next morning with Holly’s head resting on my chest. The heat radiated from her body, and I couldn’t help but tighten my grip around her waist. She mumbled something and I placed a kiss on her head. I felt completely happy having her in my arms. As I slowly ran my hand through her messy hair, she began to stir. I pulled my hand back, and watched as she drifted off to sleep again. I continued to tease her, and took hold of her hand which laid on my stomach. I watched her for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet of our morning, until the alarm would ring to signal it was time to get on with the day. After a few moments, Holly pulled my hand to her and I felt her place a kiss on my finger.

“Morning,” I mumbled.

“Shhh…still sleeping,” she groaned. I smiled, obeying the woman beside me. I stayed quiet and waited for Holly to wake up properly. After a few seconds, she rolled on her back and looked up at me. 

“Hi,” she said, before leaning in to kiss me. I held her closely, extending our kiss for a few more moments.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

Instead of answering she pinched my bicep, and chuckled as I winced. “Sorry, but I had to confirm that you are real and not just my imagination again. So yeah, I feel great. It feels great to have you here,” she said and looked away sheepishly.

“Again?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Huh?” She looked at me with confusion in her eyes.

“You said you had to check if I was your imagination, again,” I said, keeping my laugh in check as the realization hit her.

“Oh well, you know…I dreamt about you,” she blushed.

“Oh you did, huh? So what exactly have I done in your dreams?” I asked her, stroking my fingertips up her spine and nuzzling in her neck.

“I’m not going to tell you. Besides it's not what you did to me, but more about what I did to you,” she said with a smirk on her face. 

“And, what exactly did you do to me?” I asked, placing small kisses on her neck.

“Well, I did this…” She ran her hand just above my pantie, and I felt her thumb going deeper. I gasped, as she chuckled at my intense reaction. Then on cue, her mobile rang. I groaned and threw my head back.

You have to be fucking kidding me!

Holly chuckled and reached for her phone on the nightstand. “Stewart,” she answered with her hand still teasing my lower abdomen. “Oh, hey Steve.”

I moved her hand away but she just chuckled and licked her way up my throat. I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped me, but managed to push her away. “There’s no way we are doing this while you are talking to my brother,” I whispered. She chuckled again before she focused on the phone again.

“Yeah, ok. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Half an hour? Ok.... Ok see you then,” she said before she hung up. 

 

“I have to go out to a crime scene, babe. Come on, we have to get up.” She placed a kiss on my lips and before I could reach for her, she was already out of bed and on her way to the bathroom.

“Want some company?” I asked.

“Nope, I’m hungry. Do something useful and make breakfast, woman!” she demanded playfully. “We don’t have time for the things I would like to do to you in the shower,” she added as she threw her shirt at me. I gulped and shuffled my way out of bed quickly to avoid more of her teasing.

I walked to the kitchen, listening to Holly’s voice as she sang Emily Sandé’s “My Kind of Love”. I didn’t know if she sang this song on purpose or just because it was in her head at the moment, but I liked the idea of Holly’s heart only beating for me.

Her fridge was filled with the typical healthy things. Lucky for me, I found my cornflakes in a cabinet. I poured half the box into a large bowl and filled it with milk. I took some fruit out of the fridge, cut them into small pieces, and placed them in a bowl. I placed the fruits on the table and poured some yogurt on them.

Holly emerged from the bathroom and walked up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist. She placed her chin on my shoulder. “Mmm, thank you,” she whispered as she kissed my cheek.

Holly drove me to the station, where desk duty awaited me. Desk duty was the only thing I hated about this job. Some days you had nothing to do, while on other days you have no time to breathe. Albeit my hatred towards desk duty, I was relieved for the peace and quiet it delivered. After the last day, I really needed some peace. Half way through my shift, I went to the lunch room, and spotted Chris and Dov.

“Hey Gail, can we talk to you for a sec?” Dov asked, smiling as he approached me.

“Can’t. I’m busy,” I quickly answered, trying to avoid them.

“Oh, come on roomie, it will take just a second.” Dov grabbed my wrist and quickly dragged me into the gym.

“What do you want, Dov?” I asked.

“We were thinking of having a couple’s night at the flat,” Dov said, his eyes moved from me to Chris, then back to me again. “I mean, we haven’t seen you the last few days.”

“Okay, but what do we do with Chris here?” I asked. “He doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

“Well, I would like to invite this girl I met a few weeks ago.” Chris smiled at me as I looked at him skeptically.

“Come on Gail, it’ll be fun. Besides, we miss you,” Dov pouted. As annoying as he can be, I missed him too. I spent the last few weeks at Holly’s and that wasn’t like me. Even when I was with Nick, I spent most of the nights at home in my own bed. “We already checked with Holly and she has the night off. So, it looks like you both are free,” Dov said.

Wait! What? Hold on!

I gave Dov a hard stare. “You checked with Holly?” I asked, not believing what I just heard.

“Yeah…Holly.” He smiled. “You know, the Holly that you’ve been spending most of your time with lately.” Dov looked at Chris who simply nodded.

“So, you know?” I stuttered, “The both of you?” I pointed at them.

Chris cleared his throat and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Gail, it seems you’ve been bitten.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I raised my voice to let them know they were beginning to piss me off.

Chris quickly removed his hand from me and stepped back, holding his hands up in defense. “Gail, no hard feelings, but back when we were a couple, you never looked at me the way you look at Holly,” he said cautiously. “Hell, you never even looked at Nick the way you look at her.”

“What do you mean? How do I look at her?”

“Like…,” Chris started, and then looked to Dov for some support.

Dov looked at Chris, than focused his attention on me. “Gail…” Dov said as he slowly approached me. Anger must have been clearly written on my face because it stopped Dov from moving any closer. “What Chris means is that…you look like you’re in love with her.”

Was I that obvious?

I didn’t know what to say. I was scared to tell my friends about Holly, but now that they knew, I was somewhat relieved. I didn’t have to hide our relationship anymore.

“Yeah, you’re like one of those love sick people, smiling all the time.” Chris added. His smile quickly faded when he saw I wasn’t amused with his comment. “A bit like Chloe and Dov,” he added and stepped back immediately. 

“Gail, this is a good thing and truthfully, we’re all just very happy for you,” Dov said softy. “And, we really like the Doc – she’s cool.”

She’s definitely cool, and so much more…

“So Gail, are we on for tonight?” Chris asked. 

“Umm, I should clarify with Holly,” I said, reaching for my phone to text her. “But if she said it was okay, then I guess we’re on,” I responded, while still processing all that just happened.

“Great! We’ll see you later!” I heard Dov say.

“Yeah, okay, sure…” I stared at them, then looked at down at my phone.

“Hey Gail,” Chris called out as he reached the door. “Just so you know…we like you too.” I smiled at him as he smiled back and gave me wink before turning to leave the lunch room.

G: Shame on you, Lunchbox!

H: What seems to be the problem, Officer?

G: Oh, you’re in so much trouble!

H: Care to elaborate???

G: According to Dov and Chris, I’ve been bitten by the so-called love bug. 

H: Oh my, sounds serious! You should really see a doctor.

G: Ha! I am! Doesn’t help when the doctor is responsible for biting me!

H: Officer Peck, r u complaining?

G: FOCUS, PLEASE.

H: So, the boys know.

G: Yup!

H: You tell them?

G: Nope. Didn’t have to say a thing. They said I have this “look” 

H: What look???

G: A look…like…

G: …I’m in love with you…

H: :)

G: Is that your response? I confess my deepest feelings for you and you give me THAT? Seriously?

H: Baby, I’m smiling…ear to ear!

G: Holly, you’re hopeless!

H: Hopelessly in love with you, Gail Peck :)

G: So, we’re having a little get together at my place tonight. 

H: Yes, Dov and Chris invited me…couple’s night, right?

G: You made plans for us with my friends without telling me?

H: The boys said they would fill you in.

G: Great! Now my girlfriend is scheming with my roomies. You’re in so much trouble!

H: Do you mean I’m in double the trouble?

G: Smart ass…you’re going to pay for that!

H: hahaha… tonight, I hope… and, Gail…

G: Yes?

H: I can’t wait to show you my :)

I couldn’t help but giggle. I was looking forward to tonight and seeing Holly. I put my phone back in my pocket and looked at the clock. Three more hours left, and then we could head home. I didn’t want Holly to see how dirty my room was, or the entire flat for that matter. There was a lot of cleaning to do and since Chris and Dov failed miserably at it, I knew they would need to be supervised to get things done right.

Boys will be boys!

The rest of our shift was pretty slow. Chris, Dov and I left the station and stopped at the liquor store on our way home. We filled Chris’ trunk with enough alcohol to last us a few weeks. 

When we reached home I was in total shock to see that the place wasn't as chaotic as I expected. Beer bottles were in a bag by the door and clothes were placed by each of our door. The only remaining chores to do was clean the kitchen, vacuum a bit, and tidy up our own rooms. "Who the hell are you two, and what have you done to my flat mates?" I asked them sternly after inspecting the place. They just shrugged and smiled. Dov walked over to the bag with the empty bottles, lifted it over his shoulder, and walked out while Chris and I started cleaning the kitchen. 

After about an hour, the flat was cleaner than I'd ever seen it. We even cleaned the dust from all our cupboards. I headed to my room and was surprised to see all my dirty clothes were gone. Chris stepped in the room and cleared his throat. "I hope it’s okay that I changed your sheets and washed your clothes. I kind of hoped you would come home more often. I really miss our gaming sessions," he said sincerely as I watch his face turn sad. Even though they annoyed me, I missed them a lot, too.

"Don't get all sentimental on me," I laughed, hitting my fist against his shoulder playfully.

At 8 pm Chloe arrived. "Look who I found outside," she beamed as she invited Holly into the flat.

"Hey," Chris and Dov said in unison while Dov walked over to give Chloe a kiss. 

"Hey," Holly replied, smiling at me, as I stared at her with a silly grin on my face. She looked stunning in her form fitting jeans and worn out shirt. Chris shoved me from behind, ripping me from my daze. 

"Oh, yeah sorry…hey," I said walking over to her, while contemplating whether to kiss her or not. 

Fuck it!

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me, capturing her lips in a short kiss. Holly leaned her forehead against mine and we looked at each other. There was a knock at the door, and Chris went to open it. It was his date Gabby. He introduced her to the others while Holly and I continued to look at each other, grinning from ear to ear.

"Ignore these lovebirds. They will come back to our world eventually," Chloe chuckled and grabbed beers for all of us.

"Hey!" I exclaimed but was silenced by Holly's lips.

She pulled back after a second. “Hey beautiful,” she whispered as I blushed. Giggling, she lifted my chin and placed a kiss on my temple before she grabbed and pulled me to join the others. Dov pulled out his trivia cards and we all decided to play a few rounds before starting the movie.

About half an hour later, our beers were empty and Chris and I decided to bring out the good stuff. Like a waiter he took the orders. As he walked over to the kitchen, I followed him, hot on his heels. “So, how long did you know?” I asked him.

“You mean you and Holly?” he asked, filling up the glasses with bourbon and coke.

“Yes,” I answered, as we stood at the kitchen island watching the others in the living room. Holly smiled as she caught me looking at her, and I immediately smiled back.

“I guess I knew since the day before the shooting,” Chris said, bringing me back to our conversation. “At the Penny you were glaring at the woman Holly was having drinks with. At first I thought it was just you being you, but then I realized that maybe you wanted to be the woman with her. That is why I told you to call her the next day,” he explained as he handed me our drinks.

“Why didn’t you say something? And, why did you flirt with her?” I asked him, still looking over to Holly.

“Honestly, I wanted to see what you would do,” he said softly. “You are really lucky Gail. She’s a good one.” I looked up at him and placed a kiss on his cheek. I took the drinks in my hands and joined the others, with Chris right behind me.

We were happy that Dov chose Psycho from Alfred Hitchcock for our movie night. Usually he picks out B-rated movies that we end up falling asleep to. Halfway through the movie, we had refilled our glasses twice, and I snuggled deeper in Holly’s embrace. Looking over to Chloe and Dov I saw them smiling at me.

Blame the alcohol.

Holly took my hands and drew patterns on my palm. I lifted our intertwined hands to my face and placed a kiss on each of her fingers. We stayed in this position until the movie ended.

After the movie, we cleaned the living room and decided to call it a night. Surprisingly, I began to feel anxious. Holly’s apartment seemed perfect compared to mine, and even though she wasn’t one to judge people’s homes, I felt afraid of letting her in my room. It was my place to withdrawal from the world when I needed to. When she went to the bathroom, I quickly checked my room one last time. I looked between the cabinets, under my desk and finally under my bed.

Check! No socks left!

As I sat at the edge of my bed, I felt nervous about how Holly would react when she saw my room. Holly knew how much trust I put in her to let her see this part of me. She emerged from the bathroom and stepped into my room. Her sweats hung slightly low on her hips and the tank top she wore fit her nicely. She wasn’t wearing a bra and my body immediately responded by heating up. My eyes wandered over her body as I licked my lips. She bit her lips as our eyes met. I motioned for her to sit with me, and she happily obliged. She teasingly swung her hips, while looking at me intently. She stopped in front of me and I swung my arms around her body. I placed my forehead on her abdomen while she placed her forearms on my shoulder. Her thumbs smoothly glided up and down the sides of my neck. For a few moments we were completely silent and just focused on each other. She pulled my head back cautiously as she pulled away a bit. I looked at her in awe and she leaned in to kiss me softly. As she pulled back she whispered, “Thank you for today,” before leaning in again. The kiss was tender and soft and I tightened my hold around her while she squeezed my shoulder.

Suddenly, we heard a squeak from another room that broke our kiss. We looked at each other when we heard a second squeak from Chloe and we started to laugh hard. Before I could even contain my laughter Holly leaned towards my ear and whispered with a husky voice, “Should we show Dov how to make a woman scream instead of squeak?”

I was taken aback by her comment, and just stared at her for a few moments. 

“Relax Gail, it was just a joke,” she said and placed a kiss on my forehead. My mind went into overdrive. Feeling Holly’s lips on my skin made me think about her naked body under me.

“Yes!” I stated.

“Yes, what?” she asked with an unsure smile on her face.

“Let’s show them!” I clarified while I took her face in my hands. I kissed her hard and shoved my tongue in her mouth. She moaned at the contact and I pulled her on top of me as I lay down on the bed. As soon as she was lying on top of me, I grabbed her ass and pulled her against me hard. I broke the kiss and groaned loudly as Holly nibbled at my ear. My hands roamed over her back and I felt her muscles stiffen under my touch. Suddenly it occurred to me that this wasn’t just sex, but I wanted to make love to her.

She lifted her head and looked at me. “Hey, you alright?” she asked, grazing my cheek with her nose softly. “We can stop, if…” I cut her off with my lips. She moaned in the kiss and opened her mouth invitingly. A moan vibrated through our mouths as our tongues touched, but I couldn’t tell if it escaped her throat or mine. 

After a few minutes of loving kisses she pulled back and opened her eyes slowly. With my eyes never left hers I turned us around and straddled her lap. “Holls, please let me make love to you tonight.” I asked her softly. She nodded and pulled me down for another kiss. 

Another squeak interrupted our kiss again and we started laughing. “Ok, but Gail, you definitely need to let him hear how a woman should sound while she climaxes,” she said as she laughed.

Instead of an answer, she received another kiss while my hands wandered towards the hem of her tank top. Breaking the kiss I started to place light kisses on her abdomen. The bruise still looked awful, so I kissed it very lovingly and softly. I let my hands slide under the fabric of her shirt and pushed it upwards slowly until her breasts were trapped under my palm. I kneaded them, making Holly moan loudly. My lips followed the path of my hands and I pulled the shirt over her head before my mouth found one of her nipples. She moaned even louder and her back ached up high. “Shhh, I want to surprise them with you screaming my name,” I teased her, and received another moan.

Kissing her again, I hooked my thumbs in the waistband of her sweatpants and pantie. She lifted her hips so I could drag them down her thighs. I got off the bed and threw her clothes on the chair beside the bed, as my eyes wandered over her naked body. I had never seen someone so beautiful.

I crossed my hands in front of my body and gripped the hem of my shirt. Lifting it up my body it joined Holly’s clothes on the chair. My pants came next, and then followed by my bra.

Holly watched me hungrily. “Wait, let me,” she breathed as my thumb grazed my pantie. She moved over to the edge of the bed in a sitting position. Holly swirled her tongue around my navel and for a second I forgot that tonight I wanted to please Holly not vice versa. As she shoved my pantie down my legs, she bit my hips and my back arched involuntary. I pushed her back to the mattress again, and she crawled upwards while she looked at my naked body. She spread her legs, inviting me between them. I place kisses all over her body on my way up to her lips. My fingers caressed her arms and the sides of her ribcage before kneading her breasts. I felt her arousal on my skin and her increasing tremble under me. I kissed my way down again and stopped at her breasts, pinching the right one while I sucked the left.

“God, Gail,” she moaned loudly while she tangled her fingers in my hair.

I flicked my tongue over her nipple before biting it. Her hand found my back and she scratched me while her fingers curled in pleasure. The sudden pain made me bite her nipple harder which in return made her dig her nails deeper in my skin. Letting go of her nipple, I continued to worship her body on my way down to her core.

“Do you know how beautiful you are?” I whispered kissing her hipbone. “Not just on the outside, but your inner beauty is equally mesmerizing.”

“Gail,” she panted, trembling even harder.

I lifted her right leg and placed it on my shoulder as I kissed her inner thigh. We moaned in unison as my cold breath teased her wet sex. I licked all the way up between her folds and she moaned while her hips started to move on their own accord. I placed my left hand on them to keep them still while my right hand caressed her breast. Wanting to treat her with as much pleasure as possible, I sucked at her clit before I let my tongue flicker over it again. She tangled her hands in my hair and I moved a bit lower to slip my tongue inside of her. 

“Fuck,” she groaned.

Two fingers replaced my tongue, which caressed her clit again. This time I let her hips move with the pace of my thrusts. I sucked and licked her clit until she clenched around my fingers. With one last hard thrust she screamed my name through the apartment. I placed one last kiss on her core before kissing my way up, with my fingers still buried deep inside of her.

“Gail, that was… wow,” she panted as we looked at one another. She gave me no time to answer as she kissed me deeply. I straddled her thighs, and she winced as my palm touched her clit in the progress. She bent her knee and started moving in a slow pace, but I lifted myself from her thigh.

“No, Holly tonight is about you. I owe you so much. Let me take care of you tonight, please,” I said lowering myself on her thigh again.

“But Gail,…,” she protested.

“Let me at least make you feel as good as you make me feel.” 

I pulled my fingers back, before pushing them in roughly. She arched her back immediately and groaned loudly. “God, Gail,” she rasped out before she pressed her forehead against my shoulder. I curled my fingers with every thrust. "Don't stop baby, I'm near...," she moaned. It didn’t take long for her to come again. “Fuck, Gail,” she screamed. Her orgasm ripped through her body as her inner walls clenched around my fingers. Watching her come was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Her eyebrows were knitted together and her lips parted.

After she came down from her second high, I withdrew my fingers, lifted them to my mouth and licked them clean before leaning in to kiss her. She moaned as she tasted herself on my lips again. After a long and slow kiss I began to press my thigh against her core, wanting to make her come again, but this time she stopped me. “Gail, please I need another moment,” she whispered and nuzzled her head in my neck. I pulled my leg back, tangling them with hers. Her eyes were closed as she breathed loudly.

After she came down from her second high, she moved her lips towards my ear slowly. “Baby,” she whispered, “want to know what my dreams were about?”


	17. Chapter 17

_“Baby,” she whispered, “want to know what my dreams were about?”_

**Holly’s POV**

“I don't know,” she quipped, nibbling along my neck, “do I want to know?”

 

I turned us around and gently settled on top of Gail, making her groan as I purposely brushed my thigh between her legs. "God Gail, you are so wet. Are you sure you don't want to be pleased tonight?"

 

"Holly...," she moaned. Her voice was filled with arousal. I lifted myself up and leaned on my side. Tracing my forefinger over her lips, she kissed it lovingly. “Are you going to tell me about those dreams?” she asked.

 

"Okay, okay, you were wearing your black leather jacket and black pants.” I started to recall my dream for her, “God that outfit did things to me since the first time I saw you wearing it."

 

“I didn’t know that outfit turned you on?” she teased. “I should wear it more often.”

 

“Yup, I think you should.” I pushed her playfully. “So, in my dream, I was laying on the couch reading a book, then suddenly, you stormed into my apartment, walked over to me, took the book from my hands and threw it away. Then, you did this…” I moved to straddle Gail’s lap. We looked at each other for a few moments before I reached for her neck and pulled her body against mine. Our lips met and I brushed my tongue against her lips, begging for entrance. She purred as our tongues started the familiar duel. I pulled away, leaving her breathless.

 

“You are good at mirroring.” I smiled, as she looked at me with her kiss swollen lips and her dark blue eyes. “I asked you what you were doing to me and you answered ‘ _claiming what is mine’._ ”

 

“Mine, huh?” she asked with a smirk. “And what did you say?” I pushed her down on the mattress again and leaned down to her ear, “I told you to ‘ _take me to bed’._ ” Her smile grew, and I knew she was really enjoying this little bedtime story as much as I did.

 

Gail raised her head to claim my mouth, and rolled her hips against me, searching for some friction. I stilled her movements, “Patience honey, all in good time,” I chuckled.

 

Gail groaned and her head fell back, revealing her neck to me. My mouth found her throat and I licked my way up towards her chin. She pushed me away gently, "What were you wearing?" she asked.

 

"Huh?" I looked at her curiously.

 

"In your dream, what clothes?" she clarified.

 

"Oh, I was wearing sweats and a hoodie," I answered. "Why?" I asked, lifting my head to look at her.

 

"I want to picture your dream in my head so we can imagine it together," she said. A low groan escaped my throat after her confession. She smirked and kissed me roughly. It was a wet kiss filled with need, want and desire. "Tell me more,” she breathed.

 

I rolled off her to my side, and propped my head on my hand to look down at her. “Well, as much as I love you in your leather jacket, it had to go.” I lightly glided my fingers from her throat, slowly down between her breasts and back up again.

 

“When I finally unzipped your jacket it fell open and revealed these,” I said while I took her breast in my hand and knead them. I leaned down to kiss her on her shoulder, and whispered in her ear, “You said that you were all mine, and for my complete taking. And take I did.” I moved down her body, locking eyes with hers, “Starting with this…” My mouth found her breast and I sucked on it eagerly. Gail whimpered, as I shamelessly enjoyed her harden nipple, biting and sucking to no end.

 

“Fuck, Holly…”

 

“Uh-huh,” I giggled, “but that happens later.”

 

“What…” she swallowed hard, “…happened next?” she asked breathlessly.

 

“Well, you pressed my head against you and cried out loud as I did this…” I circled her nipple with my tongue, as my hand slid down her thigh. Her throaty moans made my dream seem so real, and as much as I wanted to consume Gail at that moment, teasing her slowly was wickedly fun. I wanted to slow things and calm myself down, so rested my forehead between her breasts. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest and did nothing to cool me down. I lifted my forehead after a few seconds to continue my journey over to her other breast. I rolled her nipple with my tongue to tease her more.

 

“Jesus, Holly” she moaned, reaching for my head.

 

“You know, in my dream,” I said thoughtfully, “I really wanted you. I always have. Since the day we first met. But, I hesitated on moving forward so fast.” I looked at Gail, who was listening to me attentively. “I asked you if you want me to stop but you grabbed my hand and moved it down to the waistband of your pants.” I smiled as I imagined it in my head. “It was all the invitation I needed to continue.”

 

Gail took my hand that was still caressing her face, and kissed it. Parting her lips, she captured my thumb in the wetness of her mouth. After a few moments of watching Gail, I let out a breath that I had been holding on to. “I’m yours, Holly,” she reminded me, “I want nothing more, than to feel only you deep inside of me.”

 

“And you’re still all I need,” I whispered, “and all I want.” Our eyes met for a brief second and I saw her emotions rushing through them.

“Go on,” she breathed and led the hand she just kissed downwards to her navel. I growled and pressed my lower body against hers. She hissed as she felt my wetness against her thigh.

 

“You feel that?” I asked and she nodded.

 

“Multiply it and you’ll know how hot I was for you,” I emphasized my point by rolling my hipbone against her once more. She whimpered and pushed my hand lower.

"I pulled your pants down your legs. Your panties were soaked and, I swear, I nearly climaxed," I told her as my fingers teased her thigh, just a few inches from where she wanted me. I moved my right leg over running my toe along her calf then lifted my upper body up to straddle her thigh.

 

“Your panties had to go,” I told her as my fingers ghosted over her pelvis bone. “And, you were very helpful in that department,” I said seductively. My hands slowly moved over her hips, down her thigh and she lifted her ass. “Yeah like that,” I told her. Gail’s eyes watched my hands and I leaned down to kiss her navel before locking our eyes once more. "I hesitated for a few seconds, wanting to give you a last out, but I realized you wouldn't leave.” My fingers grazed her hips one more time before they traveled towards her wet center. “Then I did this…,” I circled her clit gently and moved my fingers towards her opening, pushing my fingers inside.

 

“Holly…” Her walls clenched around my fingers, as I felt her nails dig into my bicep. I didn’t move my fingers inside of her and let her ride out her orgasm. “That was…,” she panted.

 

“Intense?” I chuckled and she hit my shoulder playfully. “Hey, I’m just saying.” She pulled me down and silenced me with a kiss. My fingers still deep inside of her made her moaned in the kiss. "Believe me darling, that won't be your last orgasm for the night. We have to make new dreams because I woke up after that."

 

She pulled my head down to kiss me as her hips started moving again. Taking the hint, I curled my finger and started to thrust with more force. With every thrust her sounds became more primal. I felt her finger wander over my stomach towards my core, and I repositioned myself so she could reach my center easily. Her fingers grazed my clit before she buried them inside of me. Our bodies moved with the same pace as we both tried to press harder in the other. I felt my orgasm coming and saw she was right there with me.

 

“Holly, don’t stop, I´m coming,” she panted, “…don’t stop.”

 

"Come with me," I rasped right before she fell over the edge. I came right after, and fell on top of her, completely exhausted. She kissed my forehead as her hand stroked my upper arm. Her touch was all I needed to relax. Suddenly Gail chuckled. I looked up at her with confusion. "You okay?" I asked, but she just laughed harder.

 

"Holls, you do know that Dov and Chris will give us bad looks for at least a week after tonight?" she said after she calmed down a bit.

 

"Well, then we should at least make it worth it," I answered, moving my fingers that were still buried inside of her.

 

"Kinky," she commented as she pulled her fingers out of me.

 

After a few more rounds of lovemaking, we laid tangled in each other and exhausted from our activities.

 

"Holly, do you know how happy you make me?" Gail held me tight as she stared at the ceiling.

 

“Mmmm,” I sighed, resting my chin on her chest.

 

"You know, you are supportive and understanding. You care for me like nobody did before. You are more than I could’ve asked for. It's just, I can't even phrase what I mean," Gail said softly in the dark room. I kissed her sternum to show her I understood what she meant. "Is it always so easy?"

 

"Is what always so easy?" I asked her.

 

“Telling friends,” she said softly,“You know that you’re with a woman?”Her face was softer than I have ever seen it, she opened up and this time she didn’t looked vulnerable. She looked confident with it.

 

“No, it’s not. I don’t want to lie to you, but you are lucky and your friends are awesome.” She rolled her eyes and I couldn’t help but chuckle at her reaction.

 

“What’s the hardest part about coming out to your friends?” she asked more serious.

 

"The hardest part for me wasn’t coming out to my friends. It was standing in front of the mirror and telling myself that I was a lesbian. After I was able to say that, I decided to tell Jordan. I didn’t know how she would react. I was scared that something would change. But luckily it didn’t.”

 

“How did you tell her?”

 

“I remember Jordan and me visiting her grandparents during the holidays. We stayed at their lake house, which had a huge backyard. Anyway, we found a bottle of tequila that her grandfather hid in their kitchen and decided to try it. At first I really couldn’t stand the taste of it, but after a few sips it got bearable. Jordan started talking about her new boyfriend and then she started asking me questions about my love life. It was really awkward. I never felt so uncomfortable around Jordan before. At that moment, I just wanted to be as far away from her, as possible. I figured out that I looked at boys differently than my friends did. I felt the things they described feeling around boys, like butterflies in the stomach, tickling all over the body and a shiver in the spine…I felt those before, but they were towards girls, and not boys.”

 

The expression on Gail’s face was soft. She smiled and placed a kiss on my forehead, as she squeezed my hand.

 

“Jordan continued to push and ask questions, but I wasn’t ready. I still needed more time before I told her. Then, I got up and walked away.”

 

“You _ran_ away,” Gail teased. “So…I’m not the only one.”

 

“No, I didn’t run away. I walked away…very quickly.” I poked at her playfully. “I went to the attic. There was a window from which you could climb out and sit on the roof. I would go out on the roof pretty often when I wanted to think about things, and Jordan knew that was when I needed time for myself. I sat there for a while, trying to figure out how to tell her that I like girls. Eventually, I heard steps beside me and felt Jordan’s arm around my shoulder pulling me into her side.” I chuckled, “She whipped away my tears. I didn’t even know I was crying.” I looked away, thinking back to that time. “Jordan held me as I cried, and asked me what was wrong. I started rambling, like I always do when I’m nervous.” I rolled my eyes, and Gail simply giggled at me. “I was really scared, okay?” I said defensively.

 

“I know, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have laughed.” Gail apologized. “What did you tell Jordan?”

 

“I was afraid about how she would react, and scared that she would kick me out and never talk to me again. I told her I thought I was gay and as soon as the words were out, I felt so relieved, like something heavy was lifted off my shoulders.”

 

Gail nodded and rubbed my back, encouraging me to continue.

 

“Jordan tightened her hold around me and my fears all disappeared. Suddenly she pulled back to look at me and started to laugh. I thought she was laughing at me and I felt pretty hurt. I wanted to get up, but she grabbed my wrist and pulled me down again. Jordan slung her arms around me and hugged me tightly. As she pulled back she said I would go nowhere and that we had to talk about this. I was dumbfounded and she continued more seriously that she was sorry for laughing it was just, she realized how ridiculous the situation was. She was annoying me all the day with her stupid gushing about this boy and when I ran away she thought it was something really bad and not the fact that I was a lesbian.”

 

Gail snorted but looked apologetic as I narrowed my eyes at her.

 

“I know, it wasn’t the most sensitive reaction but well it was very Jordan. She was curious and asked me questions. And NO, they weren’t as silly as yours at the wedding,” I teased Gail and received a half glare.

 

“She asked when I knew I liked girls, if I was seeing anyone, and why I didn’t tell her sooner. She was happy for me. That’s all I wanted to hear from her. It was a rough night, but I was relieved, you know?” Gail nodded, and kissed the top of my head.

 

“How did you tell your family?” she asked.

 

“It happened when I broke up with my first girlfriend. Your jealous side up for it?” Gail pinched my back offended.

 

“I´m just saying. Remember the incident with Jordan or back at the Penny when I was at that set up? I thought you were going to rip her in pieces and we weren’t even together.” I teased.

 

“Well she wasn’t supposed to look at you like that and definitely not touch you like that. It should have been my hand resting on your thigh.” Gail said with a small voice. It made me smile immediately. I liked her jealous side though; it made me feel wanted and needed.

 

“Hey, I´m yours. You know that. I don`t want to anyone else. Just you.” I said as I kissed her lips.

 

“Anyway, my first girlfriend and I were together for about 5 months. Amber was out, but I wasn’t. She had the same class and we became friends before we started dating. Our classmates picked on her for trying to turn me gay. They had no idea that we were in fact a happy couple. She couldn’t handle it anymore, and pleaded for me to come out, but I wasn’t ready. Our classmates didn’t give her a break, not even when I told them that she never tried anything like that and that they should fuck off. Then one day Amber asked me to go over to her house. When I entered her room, all the pictures we took together were laid out in front of her. She said had been remembering everything we experienced. It was the room for a lot of ‘my firsts’, you know? She had been crying and told me she couldn’t handle it anymore. She’s in love with me but couldn’t deal with the allegations and bullying anymore. She asked me to come out one last time, but I said that I couldn’t. Then she kissed me with all her feelings and asked me to go and not come back. I picked up a photo of us smiling from the floor, looked at her one last time and left. When I got home I locked myself in my room. My brother Dan walked by and heard me crying. He came in and didn’t ask any questions. He ordered pizza and sat on my bed to play with his GameBoy.”

 

“Then you told him?” she interrupted.

 

“No, I told him the day after. We were playing basketball in our backyard. I guess I was playing more aggressive than usual. He asked what was going on, but I didn’t want to talk about it. I was mad. Mad at me, mad at Amber, even mad at Dan, mad at our society, just mad at the world. I hated myself for how my relationship with Amber ended. I loved her and at 17, everything seemed serious for us.” I paused, wondering whatever happened to Amber.

 

“I eventually told Dan that I was going through a break-up. He pulled me closer and tucked my head under his chin before he asked with whom. My eyes were filled with tears and I whispered Amber’s name. He kissed my head and squeezed me but remained silent. After a few minutes he laughed and asked if that meant we could check out girls together. I couldn’t help myself but laugh with him. Then he got up and said it was time for Dad’s old punching bag. We always used it when we were mad. Even as kids when we had a fight, one of us went downstairs and punched the bag until the other came down to say sorry. That day, I remember beating the hell out of this thing, and felt so much better afterwards."

 

Gail lifted her head and kissed the top of mine like my brother did it back then. "What about your parents?" she asked softly.

 

“I never really told them, but I think they already knew early on. We were at my Grandma’s house for a family dinner, and Jordan had joined us. She and Dan had been dating for a few months. After dinner we settled in the living room to share stories, while we drank some wine. Then one of my uncles asked me why I didn’t invite my boyfriend over for dinner. I told him I didn’t have one. Two of my aunts started talking about how they never heard me talk about a boyfriend, and that made me feel completely uncomfortable. Jordan placed her hand on mine. I looked over to Dan who gave me a reassuring smile, and handed me more wine. He immediately came to my defense and joked that it was his fault because he threatened all the boys at school to keep their hands off of his little sister.”

 

“That was cool of your brother to stand up for you.”

 

“Yeah, it was. Most of my family, including my parents, laughed at Dan’s admission, but there were a few who remained silent. My Dad said he was happy that I didn’t bring just anyone home. He wanted me to bring someone home who would stick around for a while and who made me happy.”

 

“Have you ever brought someone home?” she asked.

 

I shook my head, “Not yet”. I looked at Gail but she remained silent. After nuzzling back in her shoulder I continued.

 

“Later, a few of us decided to join my grandma for a walk with her dogs. My dad and one of my uncles stayed back. When we returned from our walk, I went in search of my Dad. I heard his voice coming from the garage. He was having a conversation with my uncle, and I heard my uncle say that they all knew that I was a dyke. I stopped from entering the garage. My Dad didn’t say anything, and so I felt nervous about his reaction. My uncle continued, asking how Dad could live with the fact that his daughter’s a faggot. He said my parents should have kicked me out the moment they found out I was not normal. I started to cry. Then I heard my Dad growl at my uncle, saying he should never call me any of these things again. He said I was his daughter, and he loved me and was proud of me, no matter who I loved. That he nor my mother would push me away. My Dad walked out of the garage away and ran right into me. He saw the tears in my eyes and grabbed me, pulling me into the tightest hug. When he pulled back I saw a hint of a tear in his eyes and he whispered that he loved me.”

 

Gail shifted to face me. I saw tears running down her cheek. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” she whispered. “How my family would react, especially my mother, because I don’t want anyone interfering with us” she admitted.

 

“Gail, I can’t tell you how others will react. I can only reassure you that I`m with you and support you, no matter what. I’m going to be there for you, just remember that.” She nodded, as I watched her silently process what I said to her.

 

Gail suddenly gasped, and I knew something just popped up in her mind. “Holls? The dream, when did it happen,” she asked suddenly.

 

“Uhmm…a while back.”

 

“How long?”

 

“Well, the night after the wedding, maybe,” I mumbled.

 

“Holly, you had a sex dream about me before our first date? Seriously?” she barely held it together and started laughing while I buried my head in the crook of her neck.

 

I hit her playfully, but she just pulled me closer and kissed me again.

 

“Come on perv, let’s go to sleep,” she chuckled, and I placed my head on her chest again.

 

None of my dreams about Gail felt as good as what I had experienced with her that night, not even the ones where I woke up with my hand deep inside my pants. Making love to Gail was incredible. It felt better than sex. I didn’t know if she felt the same way, but she made me feel so amazing and I suddenly felt a warmth spreading around my heart as Gail pulled me even closer.

 

"Gail," I whispered but she didn't react, testing if she fell asleep I kissed her chest, but like before she didn't react. "I love you."


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I'm really sorry for letting you wait so long, but with my final exams and all that stuff...
> 
> Well anyway :) here is chapter 18, we are in Gails head and her thoughts are in italic :)
> 
> let me know what you think :* kisses

There were two things I noticed, even before I opened my eyes. The first was my phone vibrating against the wooden nightstand, and the second was the lack of warmth in my bed. I patted the mattress beside me and opened my eyes.

 

_Where’s Holly?_

My mind quickly drew conclusions as I shot up to a sitting position.

 

_Okay, okay breathe…_

 

_It’s Holly - she wouldn’t leave without saying anything. That is not like her._

_But where was she?_

 

I looked around my room. Everything seemed the same, except Holly’s overnight bag was not beside the door anymore.

 

Why would she leave without waking me up? Did I do something wrong?

 

My mind was used to thinking the wildest things when it came to former lovers, but Holly was different. Holly always reassured me when I was being insecure. She wanted me to talk about my insecurities, and always made sure that I knew how happy she was with me. I took a deep breath, and looked around the room once again and saw a note on my mirror.

 

I crawled out of my bed to read the note, which was written in her beautiful handwriting.

 

_‘Left early to catch a shower. I kidnapped your sweater. I forgot to bring one of mine, hope you don’t mind. Call me and we can talk about the conditions for releasing it Xx Holly_

I giggled, imagining how funny Holly felt when she wrote this message to me. Then I wanted to kick myself for jumping to silly conclusions about her. Holly wouldn’t just leave me. I looked over to my chair where my favorite sweater should be and smiled.

 

My phone vibrated again and I walked over to the nightstand to stop the alarm. My screensaver lit up, and I remembered the day we took the photo. It was the day when I asked her to be my plus one for Frank’s wedding. We were standing next to each other, making faces, when she took the picture. I remembered our conversation at the wedding about my sense of style and texted her back.

 

G: What happened to your style?

I heard laughter in the kitchen. It was time to face my roommates, and start the day. I tossed my phone back on the bed, picked up the towel from its hook behind the door and headed out to grab a shower.

 

As I entered the kitchen, my roommates glared at me.

 

“Good morning,” I sang.

 

“Shut up,” groaned Dov.

 

“Oh, what happened sunshine? Someone stole your favorite plush?” I teased him knowing why he was so grumpy.

 

“No, you and your marathon kept us awake,” whined Chloe.

 

I winked at them and opened the cabinet where I kept my cereals.

 

“I guess you slept very well,” chuckled Chris. “By the way, Gabby said I should let you know that you definitely won against the squirrel over there.”

 

We burst out laughing, and Chloe’s pout only made us laugh even harder.

 

“I’m not a squirrel,” Chloe shrieked. We all lost complete control. I felt tears coming out of my eyes and at this point, even Dov laughed, which made Chloe glare at him even more.

 

“Oh, then who did you spend the night with, Dov?” I asked with faux seriousness. I watched Chris and Dov attempt to hold their laugh, and even I had a hard time maintaining my interrogating expression.

 

“Hardy, Har,” Chloe interjected. “At least when we have sex, it doesn’t sound like someone is dying. Besides I never thought our Doc could raise her voice as loud as she did last night.”

 

“Yeah, not only Holly though. I’ve never heard you be as vocal and as loud with anyone else before.” Dov joined teasingly.

 

“This woman must be skilled,” Chris whispered in my ear making me choke on my food.

 

“Stop it!” I muttered.

 

“Oh, that’s something we didn’t hear last night,” he continued.

 

“Yeah, there was just a mixture of _ohhs_ and _ahhs,_ and some swearing,” Dov said with a smile. I felt my cheeks redden; maybe it wasn’t the brightest idea to participate in this morning’s discussion, or start about the sex marathon last night.

 

“Actually, I heard a lot of _don’t stop, don’t stop_ coming out of your room,” Chloe winked at the boys and I tried to hide my face behind my bowl.

 

“Hey Gail, no need to get red, we won’t tell a soul about how insatiable you are,” she said and padded my cheek.

 

“Okay, Okay I get it. Well at least I have sex more than once,” I said trying to put an end to this conversation.

 

“Well, lucky for you that your girlfriend is fit and full of stamina,” Chris said.

 

“Come on, let’s bring this tomato over to the station,” he added and pointed towards my red face.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

As Chloe and I entered the locker room, Traci and Andy were already in front of their lockers. Chloe looked tired as hell and I made a promise to myself to offer her coffee later, if she stopped teasing me.

 

“God Chloe, what happened to you?” Andy asked as she saw Chloe’s tired face. Chloe looked at me and smiled mischievously.

 

“I live with Peck!” she stated. I sniggered at the role reversal. Chloe was now being the moody bitch, while I was cheery, and smiling like a fool.

 

“Oh, you lived through one of her cocktail nights?” Andy asked, looking over at to me.

 

“Kind of,” Chloe mumbled. The smile on my face disappeared in an instant.

 

_Don’t you dare, Price!_

 

“She had a visitor,” Chloe added.

 

“Oh, So Peck got lucky last night?” Traci said and smiled knowingly. I shot her a look and turned around to remove my sweater.

 

“Shit Gail, did you sleep with a cat?” Andy asked. I suddenly remembered the marks Holly’s fingernails left on my back.

 

“Must have been a good night, Gail!” Traci said, dismissing Andy’s question. I wasn’t sure if I wanted her to know who I spent the night with.

 

“A loud one!” Chloe muttered.

 

I quickly pulled on my uniform shirt and turned towards my colleagues. “Okay, Stop! We won’t talk about MY sex life, it’s mine, and mine only!” I said with a pointed look.

 

“If that’s true, it’s very sad. But I have to admit, you must be very athletic to be scratching your own back like that.” Andy said laughing. I glared at her.

 

“Well okay, not mine only, BUT we won’t talk about it!” I muttered as I watched the others start to giggle.

 

“You weren’t so closed off last night when you were screaming from the top of your lungs,” Chloe said between laughter.

 

Dov and Chris called us from the hallway, “Let’s go ladies!” Traci just chuckled at my mood and started laughing as Chloe groaned once more. 

 

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Frank told us about the newest cases around the city and informed us about a possible half-undercover mission that would involve two officers from our department.

 

“What do you mean half-undercover?” Chris asked.

 

“What I mean is, that you are undercover while on duty but you can go home to your loved ones every night. But don’t get too enthusiastic. I’m not sure we’ll be working on that case. If it does come to our department, I’ll let you know.” Frank explained. This undercover operation sounded better than the others we worked on. Although, I wasn’t too keen on going undercover again, especially after the nightmare from a few nights ago.

 

“Assignments are on the board. Epstein, Diaz and Price, you are going to help Detective Nash with her case. She’ll brief you after this meeting. Everyone else, let’s make us all come home tonight. Dismissed.”

 

I walked over to the board and saw I was partnered with Andy for the day, and even though I wasn’t too keen on being with her the whole day, it could have been worse. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and took it out as I walked towards the parking area. Andy hollered after me before I had the chance to read Holly’s message.

 

“Hey Gail, you wanna drive?” she asked, but I already made my way to the passenger side.  “Okay, I’ll take that as a no,” she said while we got in the car.

 

As soon as I was buckled up I took out my phone again to read Holly’s message

 

H: Huh? What do you mean?

I couldn’t help but giggle as I imagined her confused look. Andy gave me a weird look.

 

“Eyes to the front McNally,” I said with a stern look and pointed to the street ahead of us.

 

G: I meant what had happened to your style?

 

H: Nothing, why?

 

G: Wedding?! You said you wouldn’t share my clothes because they weren’t your style.

 

H: You remember that!?

 

G: Holly, I’m a cop, I’m supposed to remember things. I even get paid for it.

 

“So, shall we stop at the coffee shop down at Kensington? You know, the one you like so much?” Andy asked interrupting my text conversation with Holly.

 

“Andy, that’s like a 20 minutes drive even at this time of the day, but whatever. Let’s hope we won’t get called until we’re there,” I answered. She shrugged and pointed towards the button for our sirens with a smile. I shook my head laughing.

 

“Ok, so just the one around the corner then?” she asked disappointed. I smiled at her and nodded.

 

H: It wasn’t because they aren’t my style.

 

G: Why then?

 

H: They smell like you and I like how you smell. And back then you seemed untouchable for me.

 

G: you are such a sap sometimes Xx

 

G: well anyway I like wearing your clothes and I guess it’s just fair if you wear mine too, don’t you think?

 

H: definitely, I love seeing you wearing JUST my jersey. You look hot in it.

 

G: Dr. Stewart, aren’t you supposed to work?

 

H: Oh, I am working. What is wrong officer? Getting carried away?

 

G: No, not a bit, but YOU will!

 

H: Promise or threat?

 

G: I want to rip all your clothes off. Your style should be like Eve´s style, so I can spend my days pressed against your naked body. I want to make love to you Holly, like all the time. I don’t want to fuck; I don’t want to have sex. Love, Holly, I want to make love. I want you to feel my fingers deep inside of you. Want you to hear my moans, to feel my thrusts, my hard body pressed against your soft skin. I want to feel your bare and erect nipples pressed against mine. I want to hear you call my name, your pleas for more, whispers in my ear, feel your nails in my back, lips on my neck…

 

H: Stop it!

 

G: Who got carried away now, huh?

 

H: God Gail, I hate you!

 

G: Nah you don’t, you love me!

 

H: Yeah, I do.

 

G: I know

 

H: So you heard?

 

G: Yeah, I did. I do too.

 

H: I know

 

“15-04, 15-04 there’s a noise complaint near your location,” our radio crackled.

 

“15-04 responding, we’re free. What address?” Andy asked after she picked it up.

 

“265 Greenwood Avenue,” the voice on the other side said.

 

“We’re on our way,” she responded and turned on the sirens.

 

“So much for coffee,” I muttered.

 

 

When we arrived at the location, we heard loud music then someone screamed. We raced up the stairs to the front door, and Andy banged her fist against it. There was no response, so we kicked the door in and entered after announcing our presence. We followed the noise to which seemed to be the living room. When we entered the room, we saw that the room was trashed. The cushions were thrown around, plants were out of their pots, and a man was holding a Yuka-plant ready to throw it in our direction.

 

“Hey!” Andy screamed. “Police, put that plant down Sir!”

 

The man shouted back to us, “What do you want here? It´s my fucking flat!”

 

“Sir, put down the plant and shut down the sound system,” she said forcefully.

 

“Not as long as this bitch is hiding!”

 

“Watch your language, and do as my colleague said!” I barked at him. He stared at me and I stared back at him. After a few seconds of staring he put the plant and turned down the volume.

 

“Now we can talk,” Andy said to him. I heard a whimper from behind the door through which we entered, and I looked at Andy.

 

“Can you watch him for a sec?” I asked her. She nodded without taking her eyes off of the man. I walked over to the door and carefully peeked behind it. A bruised woman was sitting on the floor, her head between her knees her arms swung around them protectively. I could see that her eye was swollen and there was blood around her lips. She was sobbing and shaking.

 

I lowered myself slowly while already reaching for my radio slowly. “We need EMT to 265 Greenwood Avenue, and please an officer to accompany someone.”

 

“Okay 15-04, we’re sending them. One car enough?” came the reply.

 

“Yes,” I answered, focusing on the woman again.

 

“Ma’am, can you tell me your name?” I asked her softly. She was still sobbing so I reached for her, trying to calm her down. She looked at me with wide eyes.

 

“Ma’am, I’m Officer Peck, Officer McNally is here with me, you are safe. Why don’t you come out from behind the door and we’ll talk?” She nodded weakly and tried to get up. I helped her and led her over to the couch.

 

“You stupid bitch, don’t act like the victim now,” the man yelled. I could see the woman shaking in anxiety.

 

“Hey,” barked Andy. “You and I, we will talk too! Where is your kitchen?”

 

“We won’t talk, let me finish this bitch,” he barked at Andy.

 

“You can either follow me, or I’m going to cuff you and make you follow me,” she said with a stern look, as she reached for her cuffs. He muttered something but motioned her to follow him.

 

“Ma’am what is your name?” I started again.

 

“Mary, Mary Higgins,” she said with a shaky voice, “this was my husband Tim.”

 

“Okay, Ms Higgins, I called an ambulance. A colleague of mine will accompany you and take your clothes to forensics. Can you tell me what happened?”

 

“When I came home from work, he was drunk. I asked him why he was drinking before 10 am and he started screaming that I was a bitch and I was worth nothing and he asked since when I was cheating on him.” She said between deep breaths. I noted everything down and she continued to tell me how he started throwing things at her and hit her twice before we arrived.

 

After about 10 minutes, Nick appeared with a female Rookie and told the Rookie to accompany Ms. Higgins.

 

“Thanks Nick,” I said to him as the Rookie led Ms. Higgins to the ambulance.

 

“Yeah, I could choose between Officer Ranck and Officer Tegut and I thought a female Officer would be better.” He explained with a nod towards Officer Ranck. Andy and I led Mr. Higgins over to the squad car and brought him over to the station. When we arrived there the Officer at booking told us that Officer Ranck called to let us know that Ms. Higgins didn’t want to press charges, so we let Mr. Higgins go again with a harsh warning.

 

“Such a douchebag,” Andy muttered as he walked out of the station.

 

“Yeah,” I agreed and felt my phone vibrating. “She´s not better though,” I added looking at Andy.

 

H: Lunch together?

 

G: Yeah, I’ll bring sandwiches?

 

“You seem whipped,” Andy said after a few moments.

 

“Huh?” I asked somewhere else with my mind.

 

“I mean, you haven’t texted, or I haven’t seen you text as much as you have today,” she clarified. “So I take it you’re texting your date from last night?”

 

“I’m texting with Holly,” I said, neither confirming nor denying her statement.

 

“Oh, your real friend,” she muttered defeated. I remembered the moment in the hospital where I called Holly my real friend and even though I wanted to hurt Andy back then, I hadn’t had planned to do it again.

 

“She’s way more than that McNally,” I said dreamingly, looking out of the window, “Way more…”

 

“Gail, may I ask you something?”

 

I could feel Andy was trying hard to fix our friendship. So, I looked at her for confirmation to continue.

 

“I’m really sorry for what happened. You know our friendship was really strong before all that happened. And we…”

 

“Don’t beat around the bush McNally,” I interrupted her smiling.

 

“Will we ever be friends again? I mean is there any chance for me to fix this mess?” she asked quietly. “I really liked being your friend,” she added looking at me.

 

It made me think about our friendship for the first time since the hospital. I never hated her. I was just hurt because she broke the code. You are not supposed to sleep with the ex-boyfriend of your friend. But as more time went by, the more it seemed that I had to force myself to be mad at her.

 

Andy betrayed me in a way no friend should do but at least she had the guts to tell me. She took every punch I threw her way. She had it hard the last weeks, with Sam, her break-up with Nick and her efforts in fixing our friendship. There were small things, I realized, she made for me. She paid for drinks at the Penny occasionally, she brought me coffee every time we were on shift together. She switched partners so I wasn’t partnered with Chloe. She remembered my tomato allergy when all of us went out and bought pizza…

 

“Gail?” she asked again.

 

“Yeah, we will eventually. Not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually we will fix this mess.” I answered with a smile. Her mood light up immediately and she jumped up and down in her seat. I rolled my eyes at her reaction laughing; it felt good that someone was so happy to be a friend of mine.

 

After a few more responding to a few more calls, we headed back to the station around lunch time.  I entered the station and was told by Dov to go over to Frank’s office after my break.

 

Unfortunately, Holly was called to a crime scene just before my break, so Andy and I decided to have lunch together. But I insisted to bring Holly some sandwiches which she could eat later. Traci, Steve and Nick joined us for lunch and we were talking about going to the Penny later that day.

 

As I walked up to Frank’s office, I saw Nick standing outside of his office door. Frank opened the door and let us in.

 

“Sit down, please,” Frank offered and pointed towards the chairs in front of his desk.

 

 

“You probably remember the undercover operation, I mentioned earlier. Well, the two of you were chosen to work on it.”

 

_Shit the operation._

 

“We were chosen?” Nick and I exclaimed in unison.

 

“Yes, I received a letter from the Superintendent, and she recommended you both.” Frank said.

 

_Great, Thanks MOM!_

“Wha… What kind of operation is it Frank?” Nick asked.

 

“Well, first of all we all know that a recommendation from the Superintendent equals an order. So, congratulations, or my condolences. I’m not sure yet, but you two just got married.” Frank stated with a sly smile.

 

“What?” I yelled unable to contain my professionalism. His smile faltered and Nick looked dumbfounded.

 

“Gail, let him explain,” Nick said calmly after a few moments of silence.

 

“You don’t get to tell me anything!” I stated.

 

“Oh, I see this partnership will work,” Frank chimed in, receiving a glare from me. “You two are going to a couple’s therapist to save your marriage.”

 

I snort and Frank narrows his eyes at me, but it was obvious he was laughing internally.

 

“Sorry,” I muttered.

 

“You’ll have to excuse my wife. Sometimes she just doesn’t know how to behave,” Nick said laughing and even Frank started smiling. His smile grew wider as I shot draggers at Nick with my eyes.

 

_Urgh, Really?_

 

“They found five dead couples, and the only connection is Dr. Mahr. The women were killed with different kind of weapons and the men were found poisoned. Detective Widmer thinks that Dr. Mahr somehow traps the men into killing their wife and then poisons them,” he explained. “I want to see the both of you at 8 am tomorrow.  You are dismissed,” he said.

 

I was still in a sour mood as I was walking towards my desk again. Andy was sitting at hers, waiting for me so we could head out again.

 

“What happened to your smile?” Chris asked as he rolled over with his chair.

 

“Nothing!” I said, not even looking at him.

 

“Oh, someone’s in a sour mood again?” Chloe teased, looking more cheerful than today morning.

 

“God, don’t you have some work to do!” I barked and made my way over to the break room.

 

“We have to work on the undercover operation as a married couple,” I heard Nick telling them and a round of “oh’s” from the others. I exhaled loudly and tried to focus back the coffee maker.

 

“So, since we’re going to the Penny tonight, you can tell me all about this horrifying undercover op,” Traci said as she stood beside me. I did not hear her when she approached me, and I jumped as she interrupted my thoughts.

 

“What’s there to tell? Superintendent Mom thinks Nick and I have to save our marriage,” I said shrugging.

 

“I thought she couldn’t stand him,” she asked.

 

“Oh, she can’t, but she knows that he annoys me and it’s a perfect opportunity for her to shove my relationship failures in my face?” I snorted. Traci smiled as she turned to make her way back to the others. Before she left the room she turned around again, “So, Penny tonight. I want to hear about last night. I’ll pay, so you can gossip about this op a bit more. Don’t forget to invite Holly.”

 

Shit, Holly! I had no idea how I should tell her that I would be going undercover. Even if that was just half undercover it still meant that I was putting myself in danger, without my Kevlar. The horrified look on her face as I told her the story about Perrik was enough for me to know that she wasn’t keen on me being undercover. How would she react if I told her that I had to go undercover? And, as Nick’s wife?

 

The rest of our shift went by pretty fast, and actually I enjoyed Andy’s company. She tried to distract me as much as possible without getting to personal, for which I was very thankful.

 

I found myself at the bar of The Penny nipping at my whisky while Traci was enjoying her wine. The others were at our table, but Traci wanted to talk to me in private first.

 

“You look good today,” Traci said as she sat her glass down on the bar. I looked over to her and smiled mischievously.

 

“Are you flirting with me, Detective? Because I’m really sorry to disappoint you, but I’m taken.” I said with a raised eyebrow. Traci laughed and I could see that she was happy for me.

 

“Don’t be stupid Gail. I’m quite fond with the one I have. Besides I really don’t want to mess with someone who can make my body disappear without any tracks to be found. You look happy, that’s all I’m saying,” she said affectionately and padded my forearm. “Speaking of which, where is she?”

 

“She’s still working.  She said she’ll be here in 10, maybe 20 minutes,” I said and took a swing of my tumbler. “She said she loved me.”

 

Traci eyed me cautiously hoping to read my expression. “You said it back?” she asked.

 

“She thought I was asleep and I…I don’t know if she wanted me to hear it,” I admitted.

 

“Why should she say it aloud if she wouldn’t want you to hear it?” Traci said. I just shrugged and Traci smiled at me.

 

“Gail, it’s obvious what you feel for each other. The question now is, how you will react to what she said,” she smiled at me and motioned for another drink before she continued.

 

“You freaking out?” she asked again. In that moment I knew why Traci was my best friend. Even though without telling her she knew that my initial reaction would have been to freak out. Not with Holly, though. It was easy to fall in love with Holly, even easier to love her.

 

“No, I don’t. I feel the same.” My eyes light up and Traci smiled. “It’s just, I don’t know why? I mean why does she love me?” I admitted and looked down to the bar defeated.

 

“Gail, like I already told you, even you deserve to be happy. You just have to let yourself be happy. You aren’t as bad as you think you are. I can understand her. If you saw your lovely side just once, you would too.” Traci smiled. I daydreamt about Holly for a few more moments before she interrupted my thoughts.

 

“You already know how you will tell her?” she asked quietly. I looked at her dumbfounded and she smiled again. “The undercover op,” she clarified

 

“No…,” I breathed out slowly. Traci gave me her ‘what-is-wrong look’, and I knew she wouldn’t let me off the hook or out of this conversation soon.

 

“I had a dream about Perik.” “I told her what happened and she was horrified. I don’t know if I can do that to her. I mean, I know it’s just half undercover, but we both know that it can turn in one. We are so happy right now and I don’t want it to change.” I said and Traci nodded in understanding.

 

“You’ll have to tell her eventually. Not only about the operation, but also about your feelings,” she said with a stern look.

 

“I texted her that I love her, twice already,” I chuckled as she rolled her eyes. “But, you are right, and I will do it. For now, I’ll have to figure out how to tell her that I will have to go undercover.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys,
> 
> first of all happy new year to all of you. Second of all Im really sorry, I know its been ages. I started studying and well life is busy but I try to upload more often.
> 
> Its Hollys POV.
> 
> Let me know what you think :)

The Penny was unusually busy for a weeknight, forcing me to park Flin two blocks away from the bar. Gail would probably complain about the amount of steps she had to make to get to her beloved booze. It was a mystery to me how she kept her athletic figure with all the junk food she consumed, and her laziness. Then I sniggered at the thought of our very active night together.

 

_Ah, now that’s the secret to her toned body._

I giggled again as images of Gail last night popped in my head. I entered the Penny and searched out Gail. Her friends were at their typically booth nursing drinks, but Gail and Traci were nowhere to be seen. I frowned and looked around for the two women, but was immediately pulled by Chloe who stood in front of me, looking obviously drunk.

 

“Holly,” she said in her chirpy voice, and I started to understand why it annoyed Gail so much.

 

“Chloe,” I greeted her, with a tight smile.

 

“Come on Doc, have a drink with us.” Before I could decline her invitation, she grabbed my arm and steered me over to the booth. “Look who I found!” she announced as we stood in front of the others. Gail’s flat mates winked at me, offering friendly hello’s. Unlike the last time I’ve been here, Andy joined us too. I didn’t know if Gail and her were on talking terms again. But since I couldn’t see her at the table they obviously weren’t.

 

“Hey,” I greeted everyone. I sat down beside Oliver and began searching the crowd looking, for my blond haired partner.

 

“She´s at the bar talking with Traci,” Oliver whispered in my ear. “They asked us to give them some privacy.” I turned my head around and looked at him quizzical but he just shrugged, “That’s her story to tell.”

 

What did he mean they needed privacy? I looked over to the bar and saw her talking with Traci. My heart jumped a bit as I saw her, but as soon as she turned around I frowned. She looked tense and sad, or was she just tired? I couldn’t figure it out because she turned away in an instant.

 

“Did something happen today?” I asked the others, my voice heavy with concern, as I faced the group.

 

“Oh, she and Nick are married,” Chloe stated, and sniggered to herself.

 

“She did what?” I exclaimed louder than I thought.

 

“Chloe!” Chris scolded her. “Look Holly, it´s not what you think.” I ignored Chris, and fell into a daze. Gail told me she loved me via text today so I assumed there was a plausible explanation to what Chloe said. But still, I wanted to hear this explanation from her. I stood and approached the bar, catching Traci’s eyes first. I tapped Gail on the shoulder and she turned around. I saw her pupils widen as she saw me, she lifted her arms but then hesitated. I raised my eyebrow at her and she swung her arms around my shoulder and hugged me tight. She let go of me after a second but her hand lingered on my forearm a bit longer.

 

“Hey,” she all but whispered.

 

“Hey,” I studied Gail. Then I looked at Traci, “Hi Traci, nice to see you.”

 

“Hey, Holly. Nice to see you, too.” Traci picked up on my need to talk to Gail alone. “I’ll give the two of you some privacy,” she winked at me and got up to leave.

 

“What’s going on?” I asked her, trying to put on a smile.

 

“Come on, let’s talk outside,” she said. She took my hand in hers and squeezed it as we walked out of the bar.

 

“Ok, you’re scaring me,” I said as we stood in the dark alley beside the bar.

 

“Scaring you? Why?” she asked.

 

“You want to tell me what’s going on? You don’t look happy, well not as happy as you should, your friends are acting weirder than usual, and Chloe said you and Nick are married.” I shoved my hands deep in my pockets, unable to hide my nervousness.

 

“She said what?” Gail exclaimed.

 

“She said you and Nick are married,” I repeated myself. “Look I know you’re closed off with your feelings and everything, and maybe me confessing my love to you was a complete surprise, and maybe you were overwhelmed when you confessed yours feelings to me via text, but…but…I’m confused. There’s probably a good explanation why you married him and you…” I was cut off by Gail’s lips pressed on mine. Then I felt her hands on my hips as she slowly backed me against the building. She pulled away and I stared at her blankly, attempting to regain my bearing. “You are a cat,” I nodded, trying to remember what I was about to say, “and…and you ran, but I have a feeling that you weren’t running since we started this…us…” she cut me off again, this time her lips were softer than before.

 

“I’m going to kill her.” Gail said as we pulled apart. “I didn’t marry Nick,” I was confused, as she shook her head. “Ok, just for the record I would never marry him. We are working on a case together, and our cover story is we are married to each other. But that’s all I can tell you, for now,” she explained, and I immediately felt relieved. My head sunk forward onto her shoulder, and she patted my back as I let out a sigh.

 

“Holly, I wouldn’t do that to you. You know that right?” I nodded, and felt the tension leave her body. She turned her head and whispered in my ear, “I wouldn’t and couldn’t, because I love you, Holly.”

 

I pulled back to look in her eyes. The smile on her face reached her eyes. I smiled back at her and leaned in to press a kiss on her lips. Suddenly I registered what she said and pulled back.

 

“Wait, working on a case with a cover story means you’re going undercover?

 

“I wanted to tell you later tonight, at your place. Yeah, it does, but it’s a part time undercover case. I have to act as his wife while at work, but other than that, I’m all yours,” she said and emphasized it with a kiss.

 

“Ok, we will talk about this at home. You’re going home with me tonight?” I asked, suddenly feeling stupid for my earlier reaction.

 

“Yes, if you want me to,” she said pulling me closer.

 

“Of course I do,” I let out a nervous chuckle. “So I’m the crazy one in this relationship, huh?” I asked with a smile on my lips. Gail returned the smile and leaned forward to kiss me once more.

 

“That, my dear friend, wasn’t craziness, that was jealousy,” she sneaked out of my arm and walked towards the entrance. I wanted to protest but nothing came out of my mouth except a huff. She laughed as she held the door open for me.

 

We walked over to the others and Chris slid over so we could sit down beside him. Since I didn’t know if Gail told Andy about us, I made no efforts to show any affection.

 

“Oh, you’re back,” Chloe smiled at us.

 

“Epstein, if your girlfriend drinks one more sip of alcohol, I’ll escort her to the precinct where she’ll sleep in a cell with all the other drunks,” Gail snapped at Chloe.

 

_That’s my girl!_

 

“I liked you more when you were all happy and smiling,” Chloe chirped and winked at me. If Gail could kill with her eyes, Chloe would be dead.

 

“I think that’s our cue,” Chris said, and Dov agreed.

 

“I think so too,” Gail muttered under her breath. They said their goodbye and dragged a protesting Chloe out into the night.

 

“It’s been a long time ago since I’ve seen her like,” Andy said, and Traci nodded.

 

“Maybe, because she got shot in the neck!” Gail deadpanned. I smiled at her morbidity, but kicked her feet lightly. Gail tried to show me her death glare but as I smiled at her she couldn’t hide her smile either.

 

“Luckily we all know that you love her anyway, Softie,” Traci teased her. Gail spun around and I could see her eyes turn icy. “Not working,” Traci told her and she started to pout. I couldn’t help but giggle at her, which made her look at me again. “You’re mean,” she muttered, and I giggled even more.

 

“Hey Peck,” Oliver said helping her out of her misery. “Do you know something about the ceremony Frank invited us to today?”

 

Gail groaned loudly. “Please don’t remind me that of it,” she answered, taking a sip of her drink.

 

“What ceremony?” I asked.

 

“What part of ‘ _don’t remind me’_ did you not understand, Doc?” she snapped. Others may have taken offence to her response, but I knew she was playing with me. I looked at her sternly, anyway.

 

“The dragon invited 15th division to some ceremony, along with all the white shirts, to show of _Toronto’s finest_ who survived a trauma like this.” Her pronunciation of ‘Toronto’s finest’ sounded very disgusted though, like she wanted to simply spit it out.

 

“The dragon?” I asked confused.

 

“My mom,” she answered slowly.

 

“Oh…,” I looked at Gail, and she shook her head, letting me know she wanted to drop the subject.

 

We fell back in small talk which gave me the chance to get to know Andy. Gail occasionally looked at my interactions with her, but I just smiled at her and she turned back to Oliver and continued talking about shoes and guns. Andy seemed to be a nice person and I started to understand why Gail referred to her as “Little Miss Perfect”.

 

Suddenly someone placed five beers on our table. I looked up and saw Nick sit down beside Traci. I saw Gail glare at him, taking the beer he handed to her. “Hey wifey, ready for tomorrow morning?” he asked teasingly. I felt Gail’s hand reaching for mine under the table and giving it a squeeze.

 

“Hey hubby, why don’t you go home and wait until I come home, which would be, uhm, let me think… never,” she smiled at him.

 

The tension got higher around the table, and everyone waited to see what would happen next. After a few seconds of staring at each other Nick clinked his bottle with Gail’s, “Good comeback, Gail!”

 

He turned towards me, and smiled a real sunny boy smile, and I could see what Gail once found in his appearance.

 

“You must be Holly, the pathologist,” he smiled at me and offered a beer. “I heard a lot about you.”

 

“Good things, I hope,” I answered and took the beer.

 

“Of course,” he answered with a smile. “I´m Nick, Gail’s husband,” he extended his hand, and everyone started to laugh as Gail groaned loudly in annoyance.

 

“For fucks sake, Collins!” she glared at him.

 

“It’s always a pleasure to annoy you, Peck,” Nick countered. It was interesting to watch the two go at it. Nick didn’t seem to take Gail seriously, and always threw a joke at her without care. It was obvious that their story goes way back, and even though I felt a bit of jealousy towards him, it wasn’t because they were a couple once, but because he knew ‘teenage’ Gail - the Pre-Officer Gail. Gail let go of my hand but placed hers on my thigh and gave me a gentle massaged. I didn’t take her touch to be sexual, but rather it was comforting, and a sign of our growing closeness.

 

_Our closeness…_

 

“Holly, did you always want to become a pathologist?” Andy asked. I felt Gail’s eyes bore into me, realizing I never told her why I became a pathologist.

 

“Actually, no,” I answered. “I always knew I wanted to be a doctor, or astronaut, but that’s another story,” Gail’s friends laughed, and I saw Gail roll her eyes at me. “During med school we watch a lot of surgeries and autopsies. Every human body is a puzzle to me, and I love the challenge of putting puzzles together,” I answered. I kept my eyes mostly on Gail, but occasionally would look over to the others.

 

“Nerd,” Gail muttered with a smile. I playfully pushed her and she just tightened her grip on my thigh.

 

“Anyway, I found it interesting to perform surgeries and explore the human body. The feeling of a heartbeat under my hand is fascinating. During an autopsy you learn the life story of the person.” I realized that I started to get very enthusiastic about my job and blushed slightly. Gail smiled at me while she rubbed my thigh.

 

“You know my mentor was the pathologist, when I worked in his department that week and he said if I want to he would let me perform autopsies it would have been my first own autopsy so I gladly agreed. When the next body came in, it was a young girl, she was seven years old. She had golden blond curls. My heart broke when I saw her parents’ expression looking at their little girl.I started to perform my autopsy very precisely and very carefully. My mentor watching me all the time. The dad asked me to be careful with his little girl and I promised him I will take care of her. Then he thanked me for it and also for finally giving them peace. He said the most horrible thing was the uncertainty. A month later we were asked in which field we want to go and I decided to go into pathology to give people peace and accompany the dead people on their last way. My mentor told me that it will get easier and sadly enough but it’s true,” I looked around and everyone was offering an understanding smile. Gail squeezed my thigh again and mouthed “I love you” which made me smile immediately.

 

“Okay customers, last round for tonight,” we heard the barkeeper announce. Nick and Gail jumped up in an instant and hurried to the bar. I looked confused at them, but Andy and Traci started laughing along with Oliver.

 

“They are always like this,” Oliver said once he stopped laughing. Gail appeared at our table with 6 shots of tequila and a cup with a brownish-black liquid. I assumed it was coke or whisky coke. Nick followed her with 5 beers and a cup of the same liquid.

 

“A shot for everyone, except Holly. She offered to be my chauffeur, so her drinks are mine,” she smiled and placed the cup in front of me. “Don’t worry it’s just coke,” she added.

 

“Very considerate, Ms. Daisy,” I replied smiling.

 

“Same here, beer for everyone, coke for Holly,” Nick smiled.

 

As Gail sat beside me, I leaned over to her, “What if I wanted a shot too?” I asked her quietly.

 

She turned her head and I could feel her breath on my face. “If you want shots, we can do body shots once were home,” she whispered, and brushed her lips against my ear.

 

We continued to chat while we enjoyed the last of our drinks. Nick told me stories about growing up with teenage Gail and Steve. He told me a story about the time they went rafting on the lake, Elaine was only concerned about the fact that Gail dyed her hair black. She wasn’t interested in the story they were telling about how funny it was or even that they were all wet and Steve had a bloody nose. Though she demanded that Gail dye her hair back to its natural color.

 

“Dorks, its time for my chauffeur to drive me home,” Gail announced and turned to me, “Ready, Ms. Stewart?”

 

“Sure thing, Ms. Daisy. Your wish is my command,” I answered in a flirty tone.

 

“It was nice meeting you,” I told Andy and Nick before I turned to Oliver and Traci, “and seeing you again.”

 

We said our goodbyes, and as soon as we were out of the Penny, Gail grabbed my hand and kissed me softly. “I wanted to do that since after you told us why you became a pathologist. Sorry,” she said looking away. I lifted her chin and kissed her, letting the kiss linger.

 

“Don’t ever be sorry for something like that,” I said nuzzling her nose. “Come on Ms. Daisy, let’s get you home.” I took her hand and started to walk towards my car, which was in the opposite direction of the parking lot.

 

“Holly, where are we going?” Gail asked as she came to an abrupt halt.

 

“Uhm, Flin is down the street,” I answered smiling.

 

“How far down? You know this street goes through all of Toronto, right?!” she asked suspicious.

 

“Oh, come on, just about two blocks,” I kissed her cheek and she pouted.

 

“I hope you’ll make up for it,” she muttered.

 

“Believe me, I will,” I winked at her.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

When we got to my apartment, Gail kicked off her boots and headed straight into the kitchen to set up the kettle for tea. She rummaged through the cupboards without saying a word.

 

“Gail?” I called out to her carefully as I crossed my arms and leaned against the kitchen island.

 

She stopped in her tracks and her shoulders sunk forward. “Holly, please give me five minutes to sort out my mind. We will talk, I promise.”

 

I was a bit confused with what she had meant, but decided to wait until she was ready to talk. I hopped on the island, and watched her continue to rummage through the cupboards. Suddenly, she turned and step into my space to stand between my legs.

 

“Okay, I know you are not happy,” she started. Shock washed over me, and the confusion was obvious on my face.

 

_What made her come to that conclusion?_

She winced at the look on my face, “I mean the assignment, baby.”

 

_Oh, Oh I get it._

I blushed a bit as I remembered we said we would talk about it once we were home. She lifted her hand to stroke my cheeks. “Look Holly, I don’t much about this assignment, yet, but it’s better than a full-time undercover operation. I’m required to work undercover while on duty, but that’s it. When I’m done for the day, come home,” she said looking in my eyes, “to you,” she added softly.

 

“To me,” I whispered as I laid my forearms on her shoulder. “You love me,” I said, more to myself than to her, but she nodded nonetheless.

 

“I do,” she whispered and turned her head to kiss my forearm. “You know I don’t like being undercover, but Frank had no say. It was an order, from Superintended Mom. I can only assume she wanted to show me how much of a failure I am,” she said and looked down.

 

“Gail, you are not a failure. I mean your relationship with Nick was probably not the best, but you learned from it, haven’t you?”

 

“Well, I got you after all,” she said with smug look on her face.

 

“True, and I have you. Believe me, when I tell you that you are an awesome, beautiful, and amazing officer, friend, and lover.” We both chuckled at my declaration. “You are everything but a failure.”

 

She hugged me tightly and whispered, “Thank you.”

 

“Tell me more about your assignment,” I asked quietly.

 

“Urgh,” she groaned as she pulled away. “All I know is I’m married to Nick and we’re trying to fix our marriage. I don’t know more than that,” she said apologetically.

 

“It’s okay,” I said and kissed her forehead. “Let’s go to bed.” She took my hand and walked us over to my bed, the tea kettle long since forgotten. Gail undressed until she was in just her panties and threw on a shirt. I did the same and we climbed into bed.

 

I felt Gail’s arms sneak around me from behind, as she nuzzled my hair and pulled me close.

“Goodnight, Holly,” she whispered. I lifted her hand from my stomach and kissed it.

 

“Goodnight Gail,” Her breath evened out, and she soon fell asleep. I on the other hand, couldn’t shut off my head. I knew the day would come when Gail would go undercover again, but I guess I wasn’t nearly prepared for it. Plus, she said this assignment was better than the others because was just a part time undercover operation.

 

_Was it?_

 

I knew that I shouldn’t be worrying about it. I mean, this undercover operation was probably safer than her being out on the streets. Also, she would be with Nick, and no matter what, they would have each other’s back.

 

I turned in her arms to look at her. I tried to convince myself to not worry about it, but that was close to impossible. I may not like Gail’s new assignment, but she was here, next to me, and that was the most important thing at the moment.

 

The next morning I was ripped out of my sleep by the fricking “Star Wars” theme song blaring from Gail’s phone.

 

“Goddamit!” Gail mumbled, turning to pull the pillow over her head.

  
“Gail,” I groaned, “would you just pick it up.” I reached out for her phone saw that her mom was calling. “Gail, it’s your mom.”

 

She shot up and grabbed her phone out of my hand. “What does the dragon want this early in the morning?”

 

“Yes, Mom?”

 

“Yes, Mom. I’m awake. I’ll be at the precinct soon.” Without even seeing her face, I knew she was rolling her eyes. “Yes, I found someone who I can drive with,” she said annoyed. “You will be what?” she exclaimed. She turned towards me and her already pale face was even paler. I didn’t know what Elaine was saying, but I knew it couldn’t be good. “Okay, Mom. Goodbye.” Gail hung up and fell back on the bed with a groan.

 

“You want to talk about that?” I asked her. She shook her head and got out of bed. “I need a shower and if you don’t want my mom to find out that you were my ride to work, we should get going. She’ll be at 15 this morning,” she said, and walking towards the bathroom.

 

“She will be what?” I exclaimed loudly. Gail just nodded and closed the door behind her. I got up immediately and rushed over to the kitchen to start the coffeemaker.

 

I grabbed Gail’s bag and walked over to the bathroom. I knocked at the door and waited for Gail’s response. “Gail, I have your clothes with me. I have to shower too. Coffee is ready,”

 

After a quick shower, I quickly blow dried my hair and got dressed. When I walked out of the bathroom, I found Gail pouring herself a bowl of cereal. She pushed some fruits and a yogurt towards me.“You have 10 minutes to eat baby. My mom will be at the station in 30 and we need at least 10 minutes to drive there.”

 

Gail rushed me out of the apartment and into my car. When we reached the station she looked at me and leaned over to kiss me. Someone knocked at the car window and Gail froze immediately. I looked over who it was and saw Oliver smiling. I started laughing and Gail looked over and relaxed again when she saw Oliver.

 

“I should go Lunchbox,” she said and opened the door.

 

“Call me later?” I asked her and she nodded, while she already took one of the donuts Oliver offered her. I smiled and nodded at her. She beamed at me and bit in her donut while turning to Oliver and rushing to the station.

 

When I left the parking lot I already saw the Superintendents car entering it. I wondered for a second if maybe Gail’s description of her was true and she really was a dragon but shook my head immediately.

 

_Work Stewart!_

 

I entered the morgue and walked over to the board to look for the cases for the day.

 

“Old woman, or victim of crime?” Dr. Boudy asked me. I smiled at him, and immediately he knew that he had the woman while I take the victim of crime.

 

“Thanks, Dr. Stewart,” he added ironically.

 

“Sorry Patrick, but think twice before you let me choose,” I sad smiling. “By the way I know how much you love to diagnose a heart attack,” I added and patted his cheek. He laughed and took the file from the table underneath the board. I took the other file and reviewed the report prepared by the doctor from the hospital. A man was caught in shooting, and had no visible connection to the men who shot him. An emergency vehicle transported the victim to the nearest hospital where he later died while on the operation table.

 

I walked over to the autopsy room and prepared it before I calling my assistant, Rodney to bring in the victim’s body. I observed the gunshot wounds on the left side of the victim’s body, and I thought about the danger Gail was in every day. I shook my head immediately, I couldn’t think about that now.

 

“32 years old, Caucasian man,” I started.“Four wounds; one to the neck, one in the arm, one chest, one stomach.” I said to my recorder.

 

_Oh boy you had no chance at all_

 

I learned that the more details I have, the better for the reports. I continued with the autopsy and found out that the bullets used were 9mm. It wasn’t the first time the victim was shot.

 

Just as I was stitching him up someone knocked at my door and Steve, Gail’s brother entered. “Hello Dr. Stewart, do you have some information for me yet?” he asked me.

 

“Give me one minute, and then I am done with him,” I answered him without looking up. He hummed and waited at the door. Unlike his sister he did not look around the room but just waited quietly at the door. When I was done with the stitches I turned around and got rid of my gloves.

 

“Steve, I don’t have my report yet, but I can give you the information I already have,” I answered and motioned for him to sit down.

 

“That would be amazing, Holly,” he answered smiling. When he smiled you could see the similarities between him and his sister. His lines weren’t as hard as hers, his eyes not as cold, but not as beautiful too.

 

“The victim had no chance. The first bullet in his arms would have not been much of a problem, but the second to his neck did it. It hit his aorta. The third one hit his lung and the last one, his stomach. I also found that he sustained previous gunshot injuries,” I said while Steve took notes.

 

“The bullet size?” he asked.

 

“9mm,” I answered, and he sighed. “What’s wrong Steve?”I asked him.

 

“We have one of the shooters in custody but he had a .44 Magnum. So he isn’t our guy,” he answered.

 

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you something else,” I said and he got up to leave.

 

“Thanks anyway,” he turned, “Oh and Holly, she’s safe you know, and thank you for bringing her over to the station today morning. Mom would have gone crazy, if Gail had been late.”

I wanted to say something but he lifted his hand smiling and left.

 

_Does he know we’re a couple?_


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I´m really sorry for the delay but i had my exams :/
> 
> and well i think i failed big time :/ but anyway here is chapter 20
> 
> Gail's POV
> 
> as always let me know what you think

Watching Holly drive away, I smiled, feeling lucky that she did not take it the wrong way when I tried to get her away from the station as quickly as possible.

“You look happy,” Oliver smiled at me as he opened the door for us. “And you’re early.” He frowned, “I thought your shift starts at 8?”

 

“Yup. Wait until I see the dragon, who by the way, is the reason for my early appearance.” I answered and walked towards my desk.

 

“Gail,” I heard someone call before I had a chance to sit down. I recognized my Mom’s voice and couldn’t help but groan .

 

“Officer Abigail Peck,” she called again a bit louder.

 

“Superintendent,” I greeted her as I turned around. She smiled at me, but I could see that her smile was as fake as mine.

 

“Looking forward to showing us your undercover skills? You know, a successful undercover operation always helps those who are looking to get promoted.”

 

_Ugh! She always goes straight to business immediately!_

 

I rolled my eyes. Not only did she just scold me for being a street cop, but she also insulted me for the last undercover operation with Perik. A woman like her would never understand how difficult that was for me. It’s my fault that my best friend’s fiancé died. But nonetheless, I was a Peck and according to her, Pecks show no weakness. So admitting to her that it was hard was not an option.

 

“Yes, Superintendent, I know,” I answered her with as much of a friendly voice as I could come up with.

 

“So, where is your fellow Officer?”

 

“Nick, Mom, his name is Nick. And he’s probably still at home since Sergeant Best said we should be here at 8,” I told her while I placed my belongings on my desk.

 

“Officer Peck,” I heard Officer Ranck, the rookie call me.

 

I looked at my Mom and then at Officer Ranck. “If you’ll excuse me Superintended Peck, I need to help my Rookie.”

 

“Officer Peck, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have a question concerning the case yesterday,” Officer Ranck whispered to me as my Mom’s eyes continued to hover over us.

 

“Don’t be Officer Rank. Superintended Peck and I were done talking. So what’s your question?” I asked as I smiled at my mother.

 

“I don’t know what I should write in my report since we let go the husband,” she explained while showing me what she wrote. I quickly read the report and was surprised at how well she described the women’s bruises.

 

“Just write what happened.” I explained to her. “Say that you accompanied the woman to the hospital because she was hit by her douche bag husband, and then she decided to not press charges, which makes her just as stupid as him.”

 

“Gail…”

 

I heard the warning in my mother’s voice, but chose to ignore her.  Officer Ranck nodded and walked back towards her desk. Elaine walked away too, but motioned me to follow her. When we entered the briefing room she turned again to look at me.

 

“Gail, I want you to make me proud with this undercover operation,” she said. “Oh, and by the way, I met Inspector Lock yesterday. He has a really handsome son. I gave him your number so he’ll probably call you soon,” she added.

 

_Seriously?!? Doesn’t she know that I’m TAKEN!_

 

“Sorry to disappoint you mom, but I’m married to Nick at the moment. I don’t know if my ‘husband’ would like me dating someone else,” I said dryly, hoping to piss her off.

 

“We both know that one day you have to find yourself a suitable man. And we also know that Nicholas is not the one for you.”

 

_Suitable ‘man,’ huh?_

 

“No Mom, YOU want me to find a suitable man. I don’t care about that.” I shot back and hoped she would let it drop. I did not want to hide my relationship with Holly, but didn’t want to tell her either.

 

“Gail, just try to be nice when he calls.”

 

_So, pretty much everything YOU aren’t?_

 

”Now, how about you look at the board and look at the files,” she said in her demanding tone and as much as I wanted to contradict her, I didn’t. So instead I walked over to the board and looked at the pictures.

 

Four dead women, one was shot, one was killed with a knife, the other was strangled, and the last one was beaten to death. No visible connection. They don’t look alike.

 

“What can you tell me about them?” my mom asked, and I sighed dramatically. “Abigail,” she said with a more aggressive tone.

 

“Woman A was shot. She had short ginger colored hair and was Caucasian, paler than me, in her mid thirties, a bit round around her hips,” I said describing the first woman. “Woman B was killed with a knife, her throat was slit, she had long brown hair and an olive skin tone, around 30 years old, athletic figure,” I described the second one. I stare at the woman in the photograph. She reminded me a bit of Holly. I didn’t realize that I was lost in my thoughts until I heard my mom clearing her throat. “Sorry, Woman C was strangled. You can see bruises around her neck. Looks like someone used a tie. She had black hair and dark skin, in her mid twenties. Also, she looks muscular,” I described her. “The last one, Woman D, was beaten to death. You can see bruises all over her body. Also, there is blood on her face. She was also around thirty years old, normal figure, blond hair tanned skin,” I said and turned around to my Mom.

 

“What can you tell me about their husbands?” she asked. I let my head hung and took a deep breath before I looked at the wall again.  

  
“All men were poisoned. I just use the same letters for them as I used for their wives. Man A was in his mid-thirties, had a slim figure, blonde hair and tanned skin. Man B was also in his mid thirties he looked athletic too, probably was working out with his wife. He had dark hair and looked Arabic. Man C was in his mid twenties pretty muscular, black hair and dark skin. Man D was not that muscular but pretty fit too, he had very big hands. Also, he was a ginger,” I said looking at their pictures.

 

My mom clapped. “Well done, Gail. You described them very good. I knew my training was good for you.” I gave her an annoyed look and felt like a pet that just got a snack for doing something good.

 

Before my mom could say anything else, Frank entered the room and greeted us both. Then he asked my Mom if he could talk to her for a moment. I was so grateful that she left. I took the files that were on the table and sat down.

 

The reports said that the men were killed with potassium cyanide, which as far as I knew was pretty dangerous for the pathologist too, because not everyone can smell it. I checked who conducted the first autopsy and was a bit worried as I read Holly’s name. I wondered for a second if she ever mentioned a case like this to me. But according to the date, the autopsy was performed early in our friendship, which made it unlikely that she was involved with these cases.

 

As I read through the last file, someone knocked on the door. I looked up and saw Traci standing there. “Hey, did you talk to her?” she asked after she stepped in room and closed the door.

 

“Yes, we talked about it,” I said, not wanting to discuss things further. Traci looked at me with her motherly look and I knew she wanted me to tell her more.  “I told her that I loved her when we were outside the Penny.  You know before we joined you at the…”

 

“Ah, so that’s why she was beaming when you came back inside,” she interrupted me, and I blushed which made her smile.

 

“She’s worried about my current assignment. We’re trying to work through it. It helps that I can come home every night.”

 

Traci squeezed my shoulder and then turned to walk towards the door. Before she opened the door she looked at me again, “Home, huh?”  I smiled and nodded at her.

 

As soon as Traci walked out the door, Nick stormed in, and sat down beside me.  “Good morning wifey!  Is your mom here?”

 

I smiled mischievously, “Yes darling, your mother-in-law is already here.”  Within seconds, the color left his face.  I laughed out loud and could not stop when my mom and Frank came in the room with case’s the lead detective.

 

“Good morning, officers,” Frank greeted us.

 

“I see Officer Peck has already read through the case files.  Good.” Detective Widmer said, and my mom smiled proudly at me.  “We have more information.  Some that is not written in those files.  We will start briefing you both before your first appointment in three hours.” I looked over to Nick, not wanting to look at my Mom.

 

“Officer Collins, please do the same before you go to the therapist. But let me give you a heads up on what we have so far. I’d like to start with the victims.  As you can see from these pictures the women died a very painful death, and the men were poisoned.  What was special with the first couple was that the pathologist found heroin in both bodies. After that, it was only found in the male victims. Also the males were poisoned with cyanide, while the women died by other causes. You’ll find all that information either on the board or in the file. Furthermore, our first thought, or well hope, was that the women were not killed by their husbands. Unfortunately, they were. So the killer makes the men kill their wives. Next, I’d like to tell you something about our suspect. The only connection the couples have is Dr. Mahr. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough proof that could justify a search warrant or make him our primary suspect. We don’t know how he convinces his client to kill another, and, so we can’t tell you how to behave around him.  Your job is to make him think you want to solve your problems. This leads us to the last part of information - your background story. From now on, you are Jessica and Marc Brown. Your main backgrounds are already set up, so not much will change. My question is can you come up with a story, relationship wise? I think it would be best, if you both try to use as much of your real story as possible,” he said and looked at us. Nick looked over to me asking with his eyes as if we needed a ‘story.’

 

“Thanks Detective, I think we have enough of a story to go to a therapy,” I said. Nick smiled at me and nodded towards Detective Widmer.

 

Detective Widmer handed us another file, “Make sure not lose that one. That contains all the information we have and I’d like to keep it between us.” Everyone nodded and I reached over to grab the file.

“Read through it, and make sure to leave on time,” the Detective added while I already opened the file. Nick grabbed one of the other files and read through them. As the others left the room, Detective Widmer moved to write something down, then looked at me.

 

“Officer Peck,” he said and waited until I looked at him, “you said you two have quite some history. Care to elaborate?”

 

“Detective, Nick and I were in a relationship for several years during high school. He joined the army and when he came back, we started dating again.  We broke up recently.”

 

“Okay, so Jessica, you and Marc got married in 2014. You grew up in the Toronto suburbs.  When you got accepted to Toronto University you moved there because you always wanted to live downtown. You studied economics. You work for a bank in a higher position,” he told me. Nick looked up, “Marc, you wanted to become a soldier and that’s what you did. Recently, you got transferred to Toronto,” he told Nick.

 

“I assume you can come up with everything else,” he said to us and we nodded, “Okay so I let you go back to your files.”

 

We continued reading through them and I made some mental notes, the women all were in high class jobs while the men were not as high as them. They visited Dr. Mahr for various amounts of time. Mr. and Mrs. Naden, couple A, were his patients for the longest time. They visited him for half a year. Couple C, the Kaisers, were his patients for only one month. Forensics never found the DNA of Dr. Mahr in the houses, nor on the victims.

 

When it was time for us to leave Steve came up to our office to give us the keys for a car. Nick took them and smiled at him.  “See you, brother-in-law,” he joked. Steve and looked at each other I could see the same annoyance in his eyes that was probably visible in mine too. Nick took his jacket and left the room.

 

“Luckily you weren’t that stupid,” he joked. “Anyway, you’ll ace it champ.”

 

I know he just wanted to tell me to take care, so I nodded and whispered, “I will.”

 

As I walked downstairs I saw a brand new BMW waiting for us in front of the door. I whistled and looked at Nick who was sitting in the passenger side.

  
“What’s wrong? Scared of big things?” I asked him and winked after I sat down on the driver’s side. I groaned and handed me a note.

 

_This is your car Jessica and you dislike it a lot if Marc drives it._

I laughed out loud and started the car.  A nice sound ran through it and a light vibration was present.

 

_This is a car you should get Hol!_

“At least you have good taste in cars, Jess,” Nick muttered when I started driving towards Dr. Mahrs office.  The streets of Toronto were pretty empty and we reached there early. I had to admit that Nick looked very good in his suit. We looked like the fairytale couple with our matching clothes.

 

We entered the bureau and a woman greeted us warmly.  “Welcome to Dr. Mahr’s bureau, I’m Susan Lee, how can I help?”

 

“Hello, Ms. Lee, I’m Marc Brown, this is my wife Jessica. We have an appointment with Dr. Mahr at 11 o’clock,” Nick said nicely. She nodded and motioned us to take a seat.

 

Five minutes later, Dr. Mahr came out of his office and greeted us warmly. We followed him back to his office, where he motioned us to take a seat on his couch.

 

_Shrinks…_

 

“Now, Jessica and Marc, what brings you here today?” he asked looking at Nick.

 

“Well, you see my wife changed a lot since I met her and I’m not sure if we’re on the same page in this marriage. She’s become more arrogant, especially towards my job. Sometimes I wonder if she thinks I married her because of the money she earns,” Nick said with a sad expression on his face.

 

“Mhm, Jessica what do you say to those allegations?” the doctor asked.

 

“I’m not arrogant. I think he should take me more serious than his job,” I said.

 

“Tell me a bit about your history and your jobs,” he said.

 

“We started dating when we were 16. A year later, we ran away together to Vegas. I worked as a waitress there and he worked at a gas station. We were in Vegas for around 4 months when Marc asked me to marry him. Stupid as I was, I agreed, and got married the next day. But well guess what, he left me standing at the altar and ran away…”

 

 “I did not run away,” Nick interrupted me.

 

“You did,” I said sternly, “you left me standing at that freaking altar. Anyway, when he was gone I went back to Toronto. I went to the University of Toronto where I received my degree in economics. That’s when Nick finally came back,” I continued.

 

“We got together again and around two years ago, I asked her to marry me again, and believe me she was the most beautiful bride you’ve ever seen,” Nick said smiling. “Unfortunately, I had to leave for Afghanistan again, right after our wedding, and since I came back, she seemed to have changed completely.”

 

Nick looked over to me and if I didn’t know better, I would believe him and probably pity him. But I did know better.

 

“I changed? You were out every other night leaving me home alone,” I barked.

 

“And what about the nights I was home, alone? You were at work. Well, you said you were at work.” he shot back.

 

“What do you mean, ‘ _I said I was at work’_? One of us has to earn the money. Can you imagine how I felt? Worrying about you every day?” I asked him. For a second I saw something like guilt washing over his face.

 

“Okay, I don’t want you to argue, so Marc, why don’t you tell me and Jessica what you want, and miss in your marriage?” Dr. Mahr said.

 

“I miss her. I want us to be ‘us’ again, and to be happy. I miss the sex we had. It’s been 3 months,” he said looking at me. Dr. Mahr wrote down some things.

 

“What about you Jessica, what do you want and miss in this marriage?” he said not looking at me.

 

“I want my husband back; I don’t want to think he will leave any second. Much has happened since he left the second time. I was married but I was alone. I knew it would be like that marrying a soldier but I did not know that it would be this hard,” I admitted sadly. Nick smiled at me and for a second I wondered how much of this was Jessica and how much was me. Even though I did not love Nick anymore, he was still my friend and I think part of me was scared that he might leave for another war.

 

He turned to me, “Jess, I won’t leave for at least a year. I promised you that. The only reason I might have to leave within this time is if we face a third world war, or someone attacks our country,” he said and reached for my hands, “I’m here.”

 

“You left me before, twice, even though you said you will stay. I’m sorry but that makes it hard to trust your words,” I said with a stoic expression. Nick looked down and then turned towards Dr. Mahr again. I checked my watch and saw that most of our time was over.

 

“Jessica, do you miss the intimacy?” Dr. Mahr asked me and I thought for a second, before I looked over and said, “Yes and no. I miss the times when it was just us. When we had a date night or spent a lazy day on the couch, or when we had sex spontaneously. I don’t miss the sex he demanded or well still demands when he comes home in the middle of the night. Or the nights where he is wasted and decides he wants action.

 

“So you miss your closeness more?” he asked.

 

“Yes. I miss spending time with him,” I said and there was a sound coming from the clock on the wall.

 

“Right on time,” Dr. Mahr said. We got up to leave and when we reached the door the doctor said, “Marc could I ask you something?” Nick nodded and looked at me.

 

“I’ll set up a new appointment then,” I said and walked towards Ms. Lee’s desk. They closed the door again and Ms. Lee offered me a few options. I chose the appointment a week later, and waited for Nick at the door. When he came out the door we walked towards the car. As soon as we were in, he called Detective Widmer.

 

“Officer Collins, Officer Peck, seems like you are out of the office,” he greeted us.

 

“Detective, I think we have something,” Nick said, and I looked dumbfounded.

 

“Go on,” the Detective said and Nick motioned for me to start the car.

 

“When we left he wanted to ask me something. Gail was already talking to his secretary. He asked me if I think she has an affair. Maybe we should check if our female victims had affairs. Also, he was very focused on me. Right from the beginning it sounded like he wanted me to be the victim of Jessica’s dominant side,” Nick explained.

 

“Okay, come back. I need your reports, and then we’ll think about our next steps. When is your next appointment?” he asked.

 

“In a week,” I said.

 

When we entered the station we rushed over towards the office where Detective Widmer was waiting for us.

 

“Like the car?” he asked me smirking. I winked at him and sat down picking up a sheet of paper for my notes.

 

“Okay, you two write down your report. I will go through the telephone records again. If any of our victims had an affair, we will find out. When you’re done with that, go home. Tomorrow you will talk to the family of the deceased. Firstly, to find out more about their relationships, and secondly, to find more similarities and differences,” he said and then dismissed us immediately.

 

We wrote our reports, asking the other occasionally. I had to admit I missed talking to Nick like this. We joked a bit around and also talked about our future problems so that we could keep Dr. Mahr busy.

 

After about an hour someone knocked.  Steve entered quietly, “Hey, Gail, can I speak with you.”

 

Nick looked at Steve and then me. “I’m going to grab me a cup of coffee. Can I get you both a cup?” I nodded and Steve who shook his head.

 

When Nick left, Steve took the chair beside me.  “I saw Holly.  She’s pretty worried about you,” he said

 

“I know she is.  I just hope this will be over soon. I don’t want her to worry,” I said with a weak smile.

 

Steve patted my shoulder and turned towards the door, “I think you should spend some time with her tonight.  She finished the autopsy for my case, and should be done with work soon.”

 

I pulled my phone out, and opened my messenger to text her.

 

**G: Back at the station and about to be done with my reports, what about you?**

 

It took not even a minute for her to answer

**H: Done with my report. Have to read through two reports of my assistant. Off in around an hour. Are you free after that?**

**G: Yes, I’ll walk down towards the morgue.**

**H: waiting :***

 

Nick sat down beside me and handed me the coffee. We drank it in silence and finished our reports. I checked my watch when we were done and saw that I still have 20 minutes until Holly was done with work.

 

“Gail, shall I drive you home?” Nick asked as we got up to leave the room. I shook my head and thanked him. He locked the office and we left the station together.

 

I wanted to walk towards the morgue when Steve pulled up beside me, “Jump in champ, I’ll drive you.” I opened the door and sat down beside him. “The morgue or her home?” he asked.

 

“What makes you think I visit her?” I answered, I felt troubled. I wasn’t sure if Steve knew what was going on or who Holly was to me. If he knew I wasn’t sure if I was scared. He seemed to be okay with it.

 

“Because I know my little sister,” he answered smiling.

 

“Morgue,” I muttered.

 

“She’s really cool, Gail.  She’s smart, funny, and beautiful. I had fun with her at the Penny the other night,” he said and I panicked a bit more.

 

“What are you implying Steve?” I asked a bit scared of his answer.

 

“Just that she seems to be a good person and that you look happy when you’re around her. I like her,” he said. I stayed quiet so he let the topic drop and turned up the volume of the radio. Alice Cooper was blasting out of the speaker and Steve started singing along _Poison;_ I joined him. After around five minutes we reached the morgue and I got out.

 

“Invite her to The Penny, Gail,” he called after me and I just showed him my finger and muttered, “You wish!”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys I'm really really truly sorry that it took over 6 months for me to upload again :)
> 
> i hope you like this chapter, even tho its more a filler than but I wanted to show Hollys side of this a little.
> 
> Enjoy and as always let me know what you think :)

I heard a knock at the door and looked up to find Gail was standing at the entrance of my office, smiling at me. When she stepped closer, I reached out to grab her hand and pulled her in for a hug. She immediately embraced me and I was so happy to be in her arms. We stood there for a few moments before she pulled back and kissed my cheek. "Hey," she whispered.

"Hi," I leaned my forehead against hers. "I need five more minutes than we can head out. Are you hungry?" She nodded and squeezed me one more time. "You want to go to a restaurant or takeout?" I asked her.

"Takeout please. There's a really good Italian chef right around the corner. Is it okay with you?" she asked. I nodded as she reached for her phone. I wondered what happened to her recently that made her more affectionate than usual, but did not want to pry. I trusted that she would talk to me when she was ready.

I went back to my reports, wanting to complete them as soon as I could. As I worked, I could feel Gail watching me. I looked up to meet her eyes and smiled. "Just a couple more minute, babe. Okay?" She nodded and smiled back at me. After I finished reviewing Rodney's last report I sent it to print and went to grab my jacket and keys.

Gail took the keys out of my hand and locked my office while I placed my report beside the board for my boss to sign.

"Gail, is everything okay?" I asked as we walked towards the car.

She nodded and looked at me, "I'm just tired. I want to tell you about today, but not here."

I let her drive the car and heard her mutter something about a new car and a BMW, but decided to not ask knowing how much she disliked my beloved Flin. She stopped at the Italian restaurant to pick up our order and then drove us to my place. As soon as we walked into my apartment, we move to set up the dining table together. It made me wonder how in sync we were, but then realized how things flowed easily between us from the beginning. Then I began to smile at myself as I recalled our first meeting.

* * *

 

_Flashback_

"I'm a lesbian," I said. It shocked me that I easily told the snarky officer something personal in my first week on the job.

"Oh, I just hate people," she answered, and pulled her jacket up her shoulders. I followed her and locked my door when I suddenly heard her saying, "Hurry up, Lunchbox!"

Confused about what she wanted, I turned around and walked towards her, "Hurry up for what, Officer?"

"You owe me a drink!" she stated. "I spent my whole day with you and your smelly bones." I raised my eyebrow but remained silent. She rolled her eyes and said, "Well, and you're new in the city and I'm awesome like that."

"I see," I answered after I let out a short laugh. "I thought you hate people?"

"You're not people, Nerd. You spent more time with the death than with the living," she answered.

"Oh so you like me?" I smirked.

_Stop flirting Holl_

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "We both know you'd be home alone reading some nerd books if you refused my offer, so…" she let the sentence trail and I walked toward the elevator. "Do you have booze at your home or are we going to head to a bar with lots of people?" she added.

"I have some whisky and beer," I said.

"I never knew nerds could have a good taste," she chuckled, but then looked at me seriously. "Wait, I did not hear the word tequila. Lunchbox, do you not have tequila?" I shook my head and she groaned before she added, "We need that, and cheese puffs!" I chuckled and rolled my eyes as she followed me to my car.

"What is that?" she asked, looking at my car.

"What officer, not fancy enough?"

"I can't believe a Doctor drives a car like this," she answered.

"What, did you expect? I have a new car with leather seats and lots of space in the backseat?" I smirked again.

"Such a lesbian," she chuckled.

"If only you knew," I smirked and watched her jaw drop.

_Stop flirting Holly_

When we reached my home, she asked where my booze and glasses were and then proceeded to set up everything on the dining table.

_End of flashback_

* * *

 

I felt someone poke me. "Hello there. Which world did your mind just visit?" Gail asked me smiling.

"Gailyworld," I answered smiling.

She rolled her eyes at me and groaned, "You're such a sap!" We both chuckled and started eating in silence. Gail ordered spaghetti Carbonara for herself and vegetarian lasagna without tomato sauce for me.

When we were done she grabbed two beers from the fridge and carried them over to the couch while I put the dishes in the dishwasher. "You know, I'm really happy I'm with you," she said as I sat down beside her. I looked at her confused. "Look Nerd, you know I can't tell you much about the case but they asked me if I miss the sex with Nick," she shuddered.

"Do you?" I asked suddenly feeling very insecure. She laughed out loud until she saw the look on my face.

"No honey, your body, our sex? Way better than the sex I had with him," she said as she took my hand in hers. "How was your day? I heard you worked on a case with Steve."

I wasn't sure if I should tell her that I thought Steve knew, so I remained silent. "Yes, it's about a man who got caught in a shooting. They already caught one of the shooter, but according to the facts, he was not the killer of the man. They are now looking if the guy was related to the any fighting gangs," I told her.

"He was weird today, wasn't he?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"He was wishing me luck and stuff, and then drove me to the morgue. He told me that you were very worried and I should spent time with you," she explained. I was surprised at how much Steve shared with Gail, and immediately felt like I said more than I should have.

_He's a detective after all_

"Well, he was right. I was very worried about you," I said sheepishly.

"Holls, I think he knows," she whispered.

"Would it be bad?" I asked.

She shrugged. "If he knows, he seems to be cool with it. I just… I don't want my mom to know," she said softly. I could see a tear forming in her eye.

"Gail, if Steve is okay with us, it's great, but I understand why you don't want to come out, yet. I'm totally cool with everything. By the way I also think he knows." I wrapped my arms around her and we held each other for a while.

"If we ever need couples therapy we won't go to my therapist." She laughed out loud and I wondered where that came from.

"Huh?" I asked confused.

"The therapist that Nick and I go to is so awful. We talk endlessly about my 'wants' and 'needs' AND about sex with Nick. Eww!" I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Holly! This is a very serious topic," she said sternly. "He asked Nick if I was having an affair!" she added.

I leaned over and hovered over her face, my lips just inches away from hers. "Are you?" I asked with a husky voice.

She looked at me and smiled. "You know, there is a certain Doctor…," her hands slid up my back, "she's really, REALLY hot!" She squeezed my ass, "And ridiculously beautiful, that I think it's a crime." She leaned in to kiss me softly, "Sometimes…no scratch that…most of the time, I wonder what I ever did to in my life that would make her choose me."

"Who's the sap now?" I asked, unable to contain my laugh. She groaned in response and started the television. We watched reruns of Friends for a while before my phone started to ring. It displayed the morgue's number.

_Trouble_

"Doctor Stewart," I answered the phone.

"Hey, Holly its Alex. I wanted to ask you if it's possible to switch shifts." I rolled my eyes, not surprised that Alex would call me for that.

"The night shift crew won't be in the office for the next couple of nights, so nobody will be there. I wanted to know if you could replace them," he explained.

"Well, I'm not really keen the nightshift, but okay, I'll do it." I nodded as Alex continued to go on and on, thanking me and making promises I knew he wouldn't remember before he hung up.

I threw my head back and felt Gail hugging me from behind. "Who was it?" she whispered in my ear.

"Work," I answered.

"Do you have to go?" she asked, holding me tighter.

"No but I'm on nightshift for a few days, starting tomorrow," I said and turned my head to look at her.

"Oh, okay," she said sadly. I knew how much she liked to sleep in my bed with me and liked to stay in my apartment.

"I'm sorry Gail, but you know you can always stay here. I have a spare key if you want it."

"Such a U-Haul lesbian, you are," she answered laughing.

"I'll place the key on the table, Yoda," chuckled. She smiled before she pulled me back to the couch to watch Friends again.

The feeling of soft lips on mine woke me from my slumber. When I opened my eyes, I saw Gail hovering over me. "Come on sleepyhead, let's go to bed," she whispered, pulling me up and guiding me to bed. I was so tired that I stumbled over my own feet as I tried to get out of my pants. I sat down on the edge of the bed as Gail helped me undress while placed soft kisses on my body. I suddenly felt awake again and moaned softly. "No you sleepyhead, we won't have sex tonight. You will sleep and so will I." I pouted, which made her giggle and kiss my lips again. She helped me out of my shirt and then my bra, making sure she didn't miss the opportunity to kiss my forehead. I snuggled in bed and felt Gail join me under the covers few moments later. I pulled her close to me and paced soft kisses on her shoulder blade as my hand stroked her stomach.

"Holly," she warned me. I groaned and kissed her shoulder.

"I never knew my girlfriend could be such a perv," she muttered.

"Shush! we both are and you know that," I said sleepily and she hummed in response.

When I woke up the next time, Gail was already gone. I found a note on the table where I left my spare key.

_I don't want to destroy your u-haul image._

_Taking it does NOT mean I will use it._

_Xx Gail_

I smiled to myself knowing Gail would be back after here after her shift, with key in hand.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Guys, Im as always really sorry but I also want to thank all of you for bearing with me, for waiting for updates.
> 
> This chapter will be seperated in two parts and I'm planning on sending 22b over to my Beta soon...
> 
> Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think :)
> 
> Gail's POV

It surprised me that I took Holly's key without thinking. When Chris offered me the key to his place, I reluctantly took it. That was much easier than explaining to him that I did not want it nor needed it. With Holly it was different. Things were different between us. Not only did I love her, but her place felt like home. She felt like home. I had spent more time at Holly's than at my house. I was basically living with her and it didn't scare me as much as I thought it would. It was the first time I felt happy to be in a relationship with someone. It was not based on just sex, like it was with Chris and Nick. Of course Holly and I had our fights, but we found our way back to each other and talked it through. I thought about Holly while I jogged over to the precinct. A smile was plastered on my face as I thought about the love I felt whenever I was around her.

I was still smiling when I entered the station and it seemed like I could not help but smile whenever Holly was on my mind.

"Well, good morning there, sunshine!" A familiar voice greeted me as I approached Detective Widmer's office. Nick was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face. I passed him, not missing the opportunity to roll my eyes at him and his immature behavior. I turned around to look at him with a stoic expression. "Come on Gail, where did that smile of yours go," he asked smiling widely.

"It's reserved for everyone except you," I answered raising my eyebrow. He smiled and giggled to himself, and I couldn't help myself but smile as well.

I knocked on Detective Wildmer's door to let him know we arrived. We entered his office and sat down at his desk while he leaned against the side of it.

"Okay, so since we found out yesterday that Dr. Mahr was pretty interested in your love life, we should come up with something. I also want you to talk to the victim's relatives and friends. Find out if they had any affairs and if so with whom. I want you to track down and talk to the affairs after. Also, be discreet about Dr. Mahr. Don't tell the families about him," he explained the plan to us.

"You assume all the victims them had affairs?" Nick asked him.

"Honestly yes, but mostly because I hope we finally find something all four of them have in common," he explained and Nick nodded.

"But still, we have to focus if we find something else," I reminded even though I knew that Detective WIdmer as well as Nick knew this.

"So, who should we gonna start with?" Nick asked once we left the office and walked towards our squad car.

"Let's start with couple A, the Naden's," I said and pulled out the address of Mrs. Naden's mom.

"We're really sorry to disturb you but we have some more questions concerning your daughter," Nick said in a very soft voice once we sat down at Mrs. Naden's Mother.

"I'm afraid I can't really help you. Allie and I were not that close," her mother told us with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry to hear that ma'am. Do you know of anyone she was close with?" I said in a comforting voice.

"Her best friend Sharon, and lately she was talking about a new friend, of hers Paula," she said and I looked at Nick.

"Mrs. Naden, do you know Paula's last name?" I asked her.

"Wilkins, Paula Wilkins. I told Detective Widmer about her, but I didn't know her last name when I spoke with him. My other daughter told me yesterday, and I wanted to tell Detective Widmer today," she said looking at me. I nodded and followed Mrs. Naden with my eyes as she was getting up from the couch. "Here is her business card. My daughter gave it to me last night," she said and handed me the card. I took it from her and put it in my notebook.

"Thank you, Mrs. Naden, you helped us a lot. We'll contact Paula Wilkins. Hopefully, she'll be able to help us.," Nick told her. Mrs. Naden nodded and reassured us she would call us if she got new info.

"Huh, let's see what Paula can tell us. Maybe she can tell us whether Allie Naden had an affair or not ," I said as I maneuvered us through Toronto traffic.

"What makes you think she isn't the affair herself?" Nick said and I might have stopped the car a little too harsh at the red light. Nick laughed it off and continued to run Paula Wilkins name through our database.

Once we reached the house mentioned in her data I stopped the car and put it into park. "Nice area, kind of looks like the perfect family house. According to her data, she lives here alone. Being a physiotherapist pays off, it seems," Nick said "Could you imagine living in a nice suburban house like this one day?"

"Maybe, but probably not. Takes way too long to get to the precinct. And I couldn't leave you there alone. Someone has to tease you," I said smiling as we both got out of the car. Nick smiled at me and knocked on Ms. Wilkins door.

Paula Wilkins opened the door once we knocked She looked like she had been crying and possibly not getting enough rest.

"Ms. Wilkins, I'm Officer Gail Peck, this is my colleague Nick Collins, can we come in?" I asked her,

"Is it because of Allie?" she asked with tears in her eyes. "Her sister called me yesterday morning and told me. I tried to call her the last few weeks but she never picked up. I thought she…," she stopped herself mid sentence.

"You thought?" Nick asked her again.

"Nevermind," she said and swallowed hard.

"Paula, you have to tell us. No matter what it is, you can help us to get her murderer. Everything helps," I said softly.

"We had a fight the day before she… she… you know, it was stupid," she said and suddenly it dawned on me. I looked over to Nick trying to make him understand that I wanted to talk to Ms. Wilkins alone. He understood and excused himself to go into the kitchen.

"Ms. Wilkins, Mrs. Naden told us you and Allie met recently. Could you tell us a little more about your meeting?" I asked her. She looked at me and smiled sadly.

"We met a few months back at this fancy club downtown. I was there with a few of my friends and was with her friend Sharon. Allie was by the bar, she looked a little lost and I thought she was cute, so I went up to her. I ordered myself a drink and told the barkeeper to give her whatever she was having. She told me then that she didn't want to another drink but I convinced her and we started talking. At the end of the night I gave her my number and told her to call me. I wasn't expecting her to call, but she did just a few days later. We talked that whole night. We continue to talk daily for a week or so, and when her husband was out of the country for a few days she invited me over. When she said she never watched the Lord of the Rings, I just couldn't believe it. I mean how can you not know of those movies." Paula paused and smiled briefly.. "Whenever her husband was out of town we spent the nights together watching movies. It started with Lord of the Rings then we watched The Hobbit before I introduced her to Star Wars. We had plan to watch Episode 7 the other day but we had a fight and she never called. I thought she was still mad at me, but when her sister called me last night and told me that she…," Paula couldn't hold back her tears anymore. I placed my hand on her knee trying to comfort her and Nick entered the living room offering her a cup of water.

"You said you had a fight with her, the day before she was murdered. What was it about?" I inquired.

"It was stupid. I felt like someone was following me, I asked her if she knew something but she called me paranoid." I looked over to Nick he nodded slightly and I knew he was thinking the same thing.

"Did you see who was following you?" Nick asked her but she shook her head.

"Okay, did you feel followed at specific places? Or certain times? Everything can help us," I told her looking at her with a soft expression.

"It started when Allie stayed over. At first I thought it was just one of my neighbors walking down the streets but then it happened more often. Mostly when either Allie was here or when I was driving over to hers. There were always cabs behind me and I mean yes a cab driving through Toronto is nothing new, but something felt off," Paula explained.

"Did you inform the police?" I asked her.

"Yes and they checked the cab, but the customer was paying cash and it wasn't enough to get a warrant for the security tapes," she told us.

"Okay Ms. Wilkins, thank you for your help. We will contact you again if we need more information. And please feel free to call me if you remember anything else," I said as I got up from the couch. Paula nodded and put away the business card I handed her. I saw a picture of her and Allie in her purse as she opened it. They were smiling at the camera and Allie had her arm around Paula's shoulders.

As Nick and I walked to the car he turned around to look at the house once more. "She's not telling us everything," he stated.

"Well, I just hope she'll come around and tell us," I said.

"Why didn't you ask her about a potential affair," he asked once we were in the car.

"Paula told us that Allie was staying at her place when Allie's husband was out of watched movies. It's seemed like they were just friends," I explained.

"But?" he asked, "Come on Gail, I know you. There is more to it. What are thinking?"

"I was wondering, what if your joke from before wasn't that far fetched? What if it was Paula after all? What if it wasn't just movie nights but couples nights? I mean Allie spent the nights there, and Paula seemed pretty torn up about the fact that she and Allie fought," I said looking straight ahead.

"Okay let's assume that's true, what would it tell us? You think we should investigate that further? Was it a hate crime? Was it just Allie Naden?" he asked as we came to a stop in front of a red light.

"I think we should head back to the precinct and find out more about Paula," I said and started to drive again.

"I have a question concerning our Doctor. What did you tell him when he asked you if I was having an affair?" I asked Nick.

"Well just that I haven't thought about it before but that  _you_  are out as often as  _I_  am," Nick said thoughtful.

"Okay let's build something around this, but let's stay gender neutral until we know if our assumptions are right or wrong," I said already thinking about what to imply.

"How about if he does not ask me straight away I'll stay back and once he says we're done I'll stay back and be like  _hey about what you said the other day I was thinking about it,_ you know imply I am not sure if you're having an affair," Nick offered.

"I think that's a great idea it gives him time to actually work out a plan against me," I said, "now we just need a plan in case if he asks straight away."

"Okay so how about if he does asks? I can say,  _'Jessica is out more often and I don't know where she is.'_ Then you can reply with,  _'How would you even know? I'm never home anyway.'_ " And then we'll go from there?"

It sounds like a plan," I said driving into the parking lot of the precinct.

"Oh, this will be so much fun!" Nick said and lifted his hand for a high five as I put the car in park mode.

Once Nick and I were back at the station Detective Widmer was already waiting for us.

"Anything new?" he asked as we sat down in his office.

"We're not sure yet. Mrs. Naden told us that she and her daughter were not very close but she did tell us about her daughter's new friend, Paula Wilkins. She said she mentioned her to you?" I asked and Detective Widmer to nodded.

"We paid Paula Wilkins a visit. She told us that Allie stayed at her place quite often. Ms. Wilkins also mentioned that she felt like someone was watching her. Mostly when she was with Allie or going to Allie's place," I explained.

"You think Dr. Mahr may have followed her or had her followed?" he asked and we nodded.

"Okay. What about a potential affair?" he asked.

"At this point, we're not sure. We don't have enough proof yet so we can't really say," Nick explained.

"Hmm, not really what I have expected, but it's a good thought. See if your can find more on Ms. Wilkins," Detective Widmer said. Nick and I got up and walked over to their tables.

"Okay, how about I look into the report Mrs. Wilkins filed and you do some research on her?" Nick asked me before he pointed to the vending machine, "Coffee and cheesepuffs?" I smiled and nodded before I sat down on my chair to get to work.

I found out that Paula frequented a certain alley. According to her phone logs, her visits to the alley started 9 months back, at least twice a week. Then it stopped 5 months later. I checked her social media activity and found that whenever her phone logged in she posted the number  _29._

I checked the registry for that area but came up empty. It seemed that '29' was associated with a building on Laplante Avenue. I looked through video footage of the area, hoping something would come up, but none of it was helpful. Opening a map of the area around Laplante on my computer, I set a marker on number 29. I had to find out about that building.

After researching what felt like Paula Wilkins whole life, I was exhausted. When I reached for another cheesepuff the bag was empty. So I threw it in the trash can and rested my head on the table. Nick chuckled, and without lifting my head I showed him my middle finger.

A few moments later I felt a breath on my neck and could smell a familiar perfume. Before I could lift my head I felt her hand on my shoulder.

"29 Laplante Avenue? Interesting. Looking for a gay bar, honey?," she whispered her breath hot on my skin. I shot up and looked at her with big eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked her my pupils probably still so big you could barely see a blue frame around.

"Hello to you too, Gail," she smiled. "The building you marked is on Laplante," Holly said moving her head slightly towards my computer screen."It's a new gay bar. It opened about 9 months ago. Actually it's well hidden. Just the community knows about," she explained quietly.

"And how do you know about it?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Well…" she started and I could see her blush slightly.

"Well, anyway," I decided to interfere.

"What do you know about it?" I asked her my hand lightly brushing against hers. She looked down at our hands and smiled.

"Not much. Just that it's a new gay bar and the community likes it a lot. I've been there once, but that was a while ago. Sorry I'm not much of a help," she gave me one of her lopsided smiles.

"It's okay, that's more than I had 10 minutes ago. Thank you," I said and smiled at her shyly.

"By the way, why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be on the night shift?" I asked her.

"Yes, but Alex called me last night, so here I am," she said smiling.

"Yes, here you are," I said smiling. She smiled shyly and nodded. "Come on nerd, let's get coffee for you," I said as I got up from my chair.

"So Paula went to the Black Spot regularly, until a few months back when she stopped. The Black Spot is a gay bar. Our assumption wasn't that far fetched after all. We should go there tomorrow and ask a if anyone knew or seen Paula," I suggested with a look at the clock.

"Sounds really good. The report Paula filed did not really help. She basically told us what was written in the report. How about we call it a night and then start at the bar tomorrow? We'll need to get more insight on the other victims' relationships," Nick said as he got up. "Shall I drop you somewhere?" he added.

"No, I'm good, thanks," I said and looked over to where Holly was talking to Frank.

Holly came down from Frank's office and walked towards me, "So, I have to go be at work in 6 hours. What about you, are you done for the day?"

"Yes I am Let's go home," I said and Holly nodded with a smile.

_Home...I said 'home.'_


End file.
